The Rockets’ defense continues to flourish

The Rockets have really upped their defense in the past few months, and because of that, they are just 1.5 games back from the 2nd seed in the Western Conference after being near the bottom of it in December with an 11-14 record.

Houston is now 51-28 and has won a league-best 19 of their last 22. Since the All-Star break in February, they have No. 2 defensive rating in the NBA at 104.7. They’ve won their last five games by an average of 23.8 points.

Associate coach Jeff Bzdelik explained a bit more of that after Friday night’s game.

The #Rockets (51-28) have won 19 of 22 largely due to a resurgent defense, with Houston ranking No. 2 in the NBA since the All-Star break in defensive rating.

Jeff Bzdelik, who replaces Mike D’Antoni (sick) as head coach for tonight’s game, explains how they’ve turned it around: pic.twitter.com/jieZPiPmcz

— SportsTalk 790 (@SportsTalk790) April 5, 2019

Houston Rockets on December 8th:

Record: 11-14 (22nd)
Offensive RTG: 110.9 (7th)
Defensive RTG: 112.2 (26th)
Net RTG: -1.3 (21st)

Houston Rockets today:

Record: 52-28 (5th)
Offensive RTG: 114.5 (2nd)
Defensive RTG: 110.1 (19th)
Net RTG: +4.4 (5th)

— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) April 6, 2019

If the Rockets are going to make a run to the NBA finals, now is the year to do it. They’re more than rolling strongly into the playoffs next week, and we can’t wait to see what they do.