Fansided

5 reasons the Houston Rockets can win the NBA Championship

By Jeremy Lambert

Apr 2, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (2) reacts against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Rockets won 123-116. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 2, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (2) reacts against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Rockets won 123-116. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Houston Rockets have been one of the season’s biggest surprises, surging behind a super-charged offense. Here are five reasons why they’re more than just a flash in the pan.

The Houston Rockets were the biggest surprise in the West this season. Last year, they fired their coach after 15 games, James Harden and Dwight Howard couldn’t get along, and they barely snuck in the playoffs as an eight seed, one year after making the Western Conference Finals.

In the off-season, Howard walked, the team hired Mike D’Antoni, and GM Daryl Morey signed every above-average shooter in the league. Most importantly, Harden split from Khloe Kardashian.

The Rockets secured the No. 3 seed thanks to Harden putting up MVP numbers, only taking 3-pointers or shots in the paint, and playing just enough defense. Really, they just outscored teams, which is how you win basketball games.

Here are five reasons they might be able to win it all.

5. The defense tightens up

Even though the easiest way to win games is to outscore your opponent, sometimes it’s nice to make a stop or two. The Rockets gave up nearly fifty points per game in the paint during the regular season. Aside from Beverley, they don’t have good perimeter defenders, and they have almost no rim protection.

Even their rebounding numbers are a bit misleading. They are seventh in total rebounds, but 15th in defensive rebounds. Looking at the percentages, they are 21st in defensive rebounding. This means that, of the available number of defensive rebounds throughout the game, the Rockets are below-average in grabbing them. They give up 13 second chance points per game, which is 24th in the league. Houston’s total rebounding numbers are a bit inflated thanks to their work on the offensive glass, where they are in the top ten in just about every category. Long shots means long rebounds, and Houston does a great job of grabbing them to get extra possessions.

All of this is to say that, they don’t get a lot of stops, and when they do get stops, it doesn’t mean the possession is over.

Maybe D’Antoni has a master defensive plan in the playoffs. It’s possible that he somehow clones Patrick Beverley and Nene and manages to get them on the court for every single defensive possession. I don’t know how he’d do this, but someone, somewhere, has called Mike D’Antoni a genius. So, let’s not rule out him finding a way to perfect cloning.

Every defense tightens up in the playoffs, but Houston has a 600-pound stomach at the moment. Even if they lose 200 pounds in a week, will that be good enough against teams with washboard abs?