The Houston Rockets are in a place they did not expect to be when the season began.
Last season, they reached the Western Conference Finals and put up a relatively good showing against what is now the juggernaut known as the Golden State Warriors. There was reason to believe that they would do better this season, especially if they could remain healthy.
But health turned out to be the least of their problems. The team imploded and they even fired their coach, and now they are on the outside looking in as far as the playoff race is concerned.
In NBA.com, the writers addressed the question on which team is more likely to miss the playoffs, the Chicago Bulls or Houston Rockets.
The results were not unanimous but the main reason why some of them picked the Bulls was because the East is surprisingly competitive this year.
"I'd say the Bulls are more likely to miss out," Fran Blinebury wrote. "The Rockets have to beat out only one of either the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz, both of whom are playing close to their limit. And they might even have a shot at the struggling Mavs coming down the stretch."
Those who picked the Rockets to miss out have stronger reasons, like David Aldridge who said he "does not like the vibe from that team which can Kumbaya all it wants - there are issues in that locker room that have nothing to do with Xs and Os."
The Bulls are also missing Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic and they would be a better team when the two key players return. The Rockets have no one of that caliber joining the team in the future.
Despite the naysayers, the Rockets claim that they are unfazed by the playoff race, as stated in the Houston Chronicle. It's not that they are in denial or they have irrational confidence, as James Harden explained.
"It's not about where we are in the standings,"Harden said. "It's about us continuing to fight and play the right way. I think we did that."
The West figures to be a nine team race and the Rockets are at ninth. They are four games ahead of the Sacramento Kings who are predicted to miss the playoffs. The Rockets are just two games behind team no.6, the Portland Trail Blazers so there is a chance they can catch up with one of the other three teams (Blazers, Utah Jazz at 8th and Dallas Mavericks at 7th).