Rockets Win 19 Straight
Houston Ties Third Longest Win Streak in NBA History
Despite the loss of Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets seem determine to continue winning.
The Houston Rockets haven't been doing what they were supposed to do after Yao Ming went down with a season-ending injury. At that point, they'd already won 13-straight games and the loss was considered a crushing blow to the team's impressive streak. Yet, since then, Houston's won six more games to push the streak to 19, which ties the third longest winning streak in NBA history.
Though they were thought to be on the down and out, Houston suddenly finds themselves within one game of the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs for the top seed in the Western Conference.
“I told (the team) they have a double whammy going,” Coach Rick Adelman said. “Not only do you have a chance to do something remarkable and get this streak going and keep it going, but also, every time you win, you keep shortening the season and you keep that lead that you have over other people and you’re moving up the standings.” [Source: Associated Press]
Though many teams they've beaten during this streak have been sub par teams, like the Indiana Pacers, New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves (not to mention, they beat up a Dallas team that was without Dirk Nowitzki), they've still managed some impressive wins against teams like Cleveland (twice), New Orleans (twice) and Denver. Their next couple games are against the Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Bobcats, but the true test might be the following week when they'll have to face the red hot Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics, New Orleans Hornets, Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns. The Rockets' schedule certainly doesn't get easier from this point on.
By winning 19 straight, the Rockets tied an NBA record set by the New Jersey Nets in 2004 by winning its 10th straight game by double digits. In addition, the team's won 13 home games in a row, which is its longest home winning streak since the 1985-86 season.
Here's how the 2008 Western Conference playoff race currently stands. The top eight teams clinch the playoffs. Teams marked with an astericks are division leaders, and are guaranteed one of the top four seeds.
- *Los Angeles Lakers --
- *San Antonio Spurs 0.5 games behind
- Houston Rockets1.5
- *Utah Jazz 3.5
- New Orleans Hornets 2.0
- Phoenix Suns 3.0
- Dallas Mavericks 4.0
- Golden State Warriors 5.0
- Denver Nuggets 7.5
That means that if the playoffs started today, the Western Conference match ups would look like this:
(1) Lakers vs (8) Warriors; (2) Spurs vs (7) Mavericks; (3) Rockets vs (6) Suns; (4) Jazz vs (5) Hornets
