For the first time in five years, the Houston Rockets are back in the NBA playoffs, and they are division champions for just the ninth time in nearly 60 years as a franchise.
Now 50-27 and No. 2 in the Western Conference standings, Houston clinched its spot courtesy of Wednesday's home victory over the Utah Jazz and Tuesday's loss by Memphis (44-32). With Houston already at 50 wins and Memphis now having a maximum of 50, the Grizzlies no longer have a mathematical path to pass the Rockets.
The Rockets won three of four head-to-head meetings versus the Grizzlies this season, giving them the tiebreaker, and Memphis is currently in second place in the Southwest Division and tied for the sixth- and seventh-place seeds in the West. Thus, Houston cannot fall to those positions, regardless of its future results over its final five regular-season games.
It's a milestone moment for the Rockets, who last made the playoffs when former NBA All-Star and Most Valuable Player (MVP) James Harden led the team from the 2012-13 through 2019-20 seasons. Houston made the playoffs in each of those eight years before entering a rebuilding phase when Harden leveraged a trade to Brooklyn in January 2021.
But after a few lean years resulted in high first-round draft picks, things are clearly on the upswing now as those prospects (including Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., and Tari Eason) mature under the guidance of second-year head coach Ime Udoka and influential veterans such as Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Steven Adams.
Udoka took over a team that finished 22-60 in 2022-23 and improved them to 41-41 in 2023-24 and a record that will finish with at least 50 wins in 2024-25.
The Rockets clinched a postseason spot about two weeks ago, meaning at least a berth in the West play-in tournament to potentially qualify for the playoffs. But it took a bit longer to secure one of the six seeds that advance directly to the first round.
In best-of-seven series starting April 19, seed No. 1 in the West will play No. 8; seed No. 2 will play seed No. 7; seed No. 3 will play seed No. 6; and seed No. 4 will play seed No. 5. The seventh and eighth spots will be determined by the play-in tournament results, and Oklahoma City has already secured the No. 1 seed.
Thus, Houston will be somewhere between No. 2 and No. 6 — and considering the current standings and their recent results, a spot near the front of that ...
