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The Wild West
Rockets hoping to keep pace in crowded Western Conference playoff race
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Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
Before returning to the visiting locker room in Portland's Rose Garden, Luis Scola glanced up at the scoreboard to get a quick update on the Western Conference standings.
He didn't need to do any quick math to figure out what the Rockets needed to make up ground with the conference's other top teams.
"We need to keep winning," Scola said.
Scola and Co. will need every win they can get in what's shaping up to be a wild Western Conference playoff race.
Beyond the midway point in the season, the Rockets have found themselves in the thick of a crowded Western Conference postseason chase.
The Rockets (24-19) are five game above .500 and have reeled off nine wins in their past 11 games. Surprinsly, that's good enough for only 10th so far in the loaded and balanced West. Translation: Houston wouldn't be in the playoffs if the postseason started on Sunday.
The good news -- aside from still having time to make up ground -- is that the Rockets are a solid winning streak away from being among the teams clamouring for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Such is life in the wild Western Conference. Through Friday night's action, the West's top 10 teams were seperated by a mere 6 1/2 games. None of the conference's division leaders are running away from the pack. New Orleans -- yes, New Orleans -- is even leading the West and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs were barely amongh the conference's top four teams.
The Rockets, meanwhile, are a game behind Utah and Portland for the eighth and final playoff spot and a mere five games behind San Antonio for a crack at opening the postseason at home for a second consecutive season. Not a bad position to be in considering Houston's up-and-down first half to the season.
On Sunday night, the Rockets will get another chance to make up some ground in the West when they host last season's playoff nemesis -- the Jazz -- at Toyota Center.
"We've had our ups and downs, but we're still in good shape," Rockets forward Chuck Hayes said. "We're on the outside looking in, but we're not far."
The Rockets are at least beginning to click.
With Tracy McGrady returning from a left knee injury, Houston has won four straight games. Relying on an improved bench and a tenacious defense, they've pulled off important wins over San Antonio and Portland during that run.
Now, the Rockets will get two more teams directly in front of them in the standings over the next two homes games -- Utah and Golden State. The home games begin a stretch where Houston will play 17 of its next 24 games at home.
Houston could use the schedule as a starting point for a midseason surge into the middle of the playoff pack.
"It's a great tribute to our group," McGrady said after snapping Portland's 12-game winning streak at home. "I think we've found ourselves.''
Just at the right time.
with half of the season still left to play and a crowd of teams still battling for playoff positioning, the Rockets still have a chance to finish among the top teams in the West.
They've just got to keep doing one thing.
"We have to worry about us winning our games instead of looking at what the other teams are going to do," Rockets point guard Rafer Alston said. "We should be alright if we take care of our game."
