Analysis of Houston 17 games wining streak-nothing special!

[klemen4]

Ok, Houston won 17 games, all respect to that run, but on the other hand looking the oponents we realize it is not such a special thing:


9 (6 at home) games against EASTERN teams:

Fri 01 @ Indiana W 106-103
Sat 02 @ Milwaukee W 91-83
Thu 07 vs Cleveland W 92-77
Sat 09 vs Atlanta W 108-89
Tue 19 @ Cleveland W 93-85
Thu 21 vs Miami W 112-100
Sun 24 vs Chicago W 110-97
Tue 26 vs Washington W 94-69
Wed 05 vs Indiana W 117-99


4 (3 at home) games against non playoff WESTERN teams:

Mon 04 @ Minnesota W 92-86
Mon 11 vs Portland W 95-83
Wed 13 vs Sacramento W 89-87
Fri 29 vs Memphis W 116-95


4 (2 at home) games against playoff WESTERN teams:

Tue 29 vs Golden State W 111-107
Fri 22 @ New Orleans W 100-80
Sun 02 vs Denver W 103-89
Thu 06 @ Dallas W 113-98

So we have 17 games, but only 2 really hard ones on the road Vs. Cleveland and New orleans. I dont count Dalas, becouse Nowitzky didnt play. Also home games against GSW and DEN are easy winable, if you play smart.

On the end, no disrespect to Houston, but surely the schedule was in their favor.

[P2]

I think they're still special. They're winning even without Yao. We would be lucky to have 10 straight, because we had 9 straight twice this year and not more. But with wins against Chicago, Memphis, Philly and Seattle (4 easy games) we could do that for the first time this season. But until then: The Rockets are impressive!

[aboubata]

So Denver and Dallas aren't consider good teams?

I know Denver isn't in the playoffs but they have a better record than cleveland, and looking at the tough competition in the west, it is better than Orlando.

I think the last 3 wins are impressive, and they have confidence now, but I would want to see what happens after a loss or 2.

[Celts09]

I dont count Dalas, becouse Nowitzky didnt play.

Yao diddnt play vs the Mavs.

games against GSW and DEN are easy winable,

is that why we lost to both of them?

[SuperDeluxe]

Any 17-game winning streak is special. Give credit where credit's due. The Rockets are really good.

[UGA Hayes]

I think Houston is an interesting team to watch from here going foward. I've watched Landry and Scola a couple of times now and honestly I don't come away thinking that most of the Western teams have a much better front line than Houston.

[Tricky Ricky]

Any 17-game winning streak is special. Give credit where credit's due. The Rockets are really good.

Exactly, especially if about half way in it the best player on your team goes down with a season ending injury. And how arent Den or GS considered hard???

[phoolishly_insane]

u serious??? 17 streak is way special.... how can you not say its not special??? Schedule doesn't have anything to do with it... its how they play.

[BobbySura]

17 wins straight is special, no matter who it's against.

this falls under the same category of all that bashing of the celtics for winning against easy teams early in the season.

here's the bottom line. good teams finish off bad teams. and wins are wins.

if houston goes 17-0 against bad teams, they are doing EXACTLY what they are supposed to be doing.

anyone who says 17-0 isn't special just never has played basketball. even moreso that they've gone 5-0 without yao.

houston is an average to good team at best, but this streak is amazing.

[UGA Hayes]

^ Not only that but Houston has been KILLING the teams they play, the way we were doing at the beginning of the season. In addition to Landry and Scol, if Alston keeps playing like an actual NBA player Houston could be a pretty tough out.

[JiriMania]

Any 17-game winning streak is special. Give credit where credit's due. The Rockets are really good.

+1

[kghatestolose]

17 games is almost a quarter of a season. Even if a team were playing the Washington Generals, they might have a chance to squeak one out.

Haven't they won 5 without Yao ?

I think 17 is awesome in any context. Just imagine, a team who could consistently rack 17 - 1 streaks could go 77 and 5.

Nothing special there, nothing at all.

[Banks2Pierce]

They've won 17 in a row, but I don't think any teams in the Western Conference playoff picture would be scared to match up with them in a playoff series at this point.

[keltickings]

Ok, Houston won 17 games, all respect to that run, but on the other hand looking the oponents we realize it is not such a special thing:


9 (6 at home) games against EASTERN teams:

Fri 01 @ Indiana W 106-103
Sat 02 @ Milwaukee W 91-83
Thu 07 vs Cleveland W 92-77
Sat 09 vs Atlanta W 108-89
Tue 19 @ Cleveland W 93-85
Thu 21 vs Miami W 112-100
Sun 24 vs Chicago W 110-97
Tue 26 vs Washington W 94-69
Wed 05 vs Indiana W 117-99


4 (3 at home) games against non playoff WESTERN teams:

Mon 04 @ Minnesota W 92-86
Mon 11 vs Portland W 95-83
Wed 13 vs Sacramento W 89-87
Fri 29 vs Memphis W 116-95


4 (2 at home) games against playoff WESTERN teams:

Tue 29 vs Golden State W 111-107
Fri 22 @ New Orleans W 100-80
Sun 02 vs Denver W 103-89
Thu 06 @ Dallas W 113-98

So we have 17 games, but only 2 really hard ones on the road Vs. Cleveland and New orleans. I dont count Dalas, becouse Nowitzky didnt play. Also home games against GSW and DEN are easy winable, if you play smart.

On the end, no disrespect to Houston, but surely the schedule was in their favor.

I do seem to notice certain teams on this list that have beaten the Celtics{CLE, WAS, GS, DEN}, some even twice{CLE, WAS}.
How many of those loses, in theory, should the Celtics have won? It doesn't matter. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. Good teams get W's and L's to lesser teams and vice versa.

We are not debating the greatest winning streak of all time in the NBA here. 17 games in a row by any team in any era is pretty special.

If the Celtics had not lost that first game to Detroit we could have won 19 straight. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, I know. But, if we had we won that game would you be pointing out the records of the teams we beat or would you be argueing for a really impressive winning streak.

Are the Rockets the best team in the West? Hell no.
Are they better than the Celtics or Detroit? Hell no.

If the Rockets could, hypothetically, play the Timberwolves 17 straight times and win every game would I be impressed . Hell yes.

Is a 17 game win streak by any team playing against some very talented and mostly under .500 teams impressive? DAMN STRAIGHT!!!!!!

I don't care who you are, that is impressive.

[Kids Are Alright]

Talk about a no-brainer

I haven't yet seen the resurrected TMac. Think about the potential that's been wasted with his injuries.

He's got as much scoring potential as anyone this side of Kobe, IMO.

[I love heinsohn]

I'm actually pretty excited to see the Celtics go back down to Houston and face the Rockets w/o Yao. When they were in Boston, it was a tight game but TMac did not play and KG made some big stops late. Should be a very different dynamic down there and good prep in case the Celtics have to play Cleveland since TMac creates similar matchup problems to LeBron (but with a better supporting cast).

[NH_soxfan14]

This isnt college where Memphis schedules division 3 teams to play. They are playing pro athletes that get paid. Its a crazy winning streak.