In The Early Going, The Houston Rockets Are The Surprise Team Of 2023-2024

The Week in Review and The Week Ahead

On Sunday night, the Houston Rockets ran their record to 6-3 with their sixth straight win, taking down the defending champion Denver Nuggets 107-104. The Rockets went 3-0 over the past week, blowing out the Sacramento Kings, 122-97, and the Los Angeles Lakers, 128-94. They then won a nail-biter against the New Orleans Hornets, 104-101.

It’s been an incredible turn-around after an 0-3 start to the season that left some observers wondering if anything had even changed following this past summer’s spending spree. But all along, Ime Udoka’s Rockets were building what they have currently become.

In what is quite the oddity for an NBA schedule, the Rockets will take the next four days to rest and catch their breath, not playing again until Friday night when they visit the Los Angeles Clippers and old friend, recently acquired James Harden. Friday’s game is a matchup of two teams trending in opposite directions, with the Rockets at 6-3 and fourth in the Western Conference and the Clippers at 3-6 and 11th in the West and losers of five straight. The Clippers came into the season with last-ditch title aspirations for their core of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George while the Rockets were hoping just to once again look like an NBA team.

An Incredible Turnaround

At the time of writing, the Rockets are 10th in the league in offensive rating at 113.1, fifth in defensive rating at 108.1, and seventh in net rating at +5.1. It’s astonishing production for a team that, despite its additions over the offseason, was still not expected to be more than, at best, a play-in team in 2023-2024. The question now becomes sustainability, particularly as the young Rockets leave the friendly confines of the Toyota Center for road venues up next on the schedule.

The Rockets got sophomore forward Tari Eason back against the Lakers after Eason missed the first six games of the season due to injury. Eason was +12 in the win over Denver, hitting two crucial 3s down the stretch to help Houston seal the win. Eason’s return has helped solidify Udoka’s bench, pushing center Jock Landale further out of the rotation. Udoka’s most trusted reserves are currently veteran forward Jeff Green, Jae’Sean Tate, Eason, and Aaron Holiday. Green has flourished of late, closing the game in place of Jabari Smith Jr. during crunch time in each of the last two games.

Green was signed this past summer two a two-year, $16 million contract with a team option next summer. It was believed that Green, 37, could be used in a trade closer to the trade deadline given the nature of his contract; the club option makes him essentially an expiring contract for purposes of trades. However, Green has looked so instrumental to what Udoka is trying to build that, at least for now, it is difficult to conceive of him being dealt unless an absolute necessity.

Rookie guard Amen Thompson, recovering from an ankle injury, is still some ways away from his return.