Shane Battier says the Rockets are a middle-class NBA team.
While that is far better than being in the poor house — which is where many thought they would be at this point of the season — it is dangerous territory for a team with postseason aspirations.
The Rockets are tied with Utah for the eighth-best record in the Western Conference at 21-17, just ahead of New Orleans (19-17) and just behind Oklahoma City (21-16).
Add sixth-place Portland (23-16) to the mix and, unless there is a major shake-up, two of those five teams will not make the playoffs.
Yeah, we're talking NBA playoffs in January before we've even reached the midway point of the season.
That's a good thing. If the Rockets make a move by winning games over the next few weeks, they could almost secure a solid position in the playoff race. If not, they would likely face an anxious second half of the season fighting for a playoff spot.
Starting tonight with a visit from Minnesota, which has the second-worst record in the league, the Rockets play 10 of their next 12 games at the Toyota Center.
Welcome home, boys.
It is almost as if the league was out to get the Rockets, who have tied for the fewest home games (with Golden State at 15) and the most road games (with Cleveland at 23) in the NBA.
“It's going to be good to be home for a stretch,” Luis Scola said.
This could be the most important stretch of the season. With the schedule turning in their favor, the Rockets need to make sure this is a favorable stretch.
It is not unusual for media to go nuts on such a thing this early, but Rockets coach Rick Adelman says we aren't overdoing it this time. He has told his team the next three weeks are crucial.
Time to make a push
“I've told them this stretch is really important for us,” Adelman said. “It's going to tell you where you are. It's a period where we have got to get consistency. If we don't and we lose some of these games, it's going to be that much harder for the rest of the year.
“If you're five games above (.500) now and you have a really good stretch right now, you kind of separate yourself from some of the teams below. It doesn't take much to move up and down, and that's why we've got to win games to separate.”
Not only are the Rockets set to play a bunch of home games, they are playing teams that are middle and lower middle class.
And they know it.
“As a coach, you've talked about all these games at home, you'd like to make a statement and win all these games at home,” Adelman said. “You have to win the games at home against teams like this. The nice thing about having a home stretch is you do have time to rest your team, you have time to practice and you can really regulate your schedule a lot more than when you are traveling.”
What Adelman is saying is his squad is ready to make a move, needs to make a move.
It's too early to talk playoffs, but it's basketball season, baby. And this stretch of basketball might be the easiest the Rockets will see this season.
The Rockets are 5-6 in their last 11 games, but that stretch included two three-game road trips, and road games against division leaders the Lakers, Cleveland and Orlando.
Three weeks of heaven?
Life shouldn't be anywhere close to that difficult in the next three weeks. The Rockets haven't lost more than three games in a row, but they haven't won more than that many, either. It's time they make move to upper middle class.
“You have got to take advantage of it,” Adelman said “You can have the best schedule in the world — the Lakers had an unbelievable home schedule early in the year and they took advantage of it — that's what we have to try to do.
“We can kind of put ourselves in position to be in pretty good shape right now and now can we maintain that?”
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