In case any pro basketballs fans haven’t noticed, the Houston Rockets have fallen off a cliff. That’s figuratively speaking of course.
After finishing the 2017-18 NBA season with the leagues best record of 65-17, the Rockets have been a complete no-show this season. That’s a big concern for sports betting Canada bettors who supported the Rockets in future book betting. Fans will remember the Rockets held a 3-2 series lead against the future NBA Champion Golden State Warriors before a hamstring injury sidelines Rockets star PG Chris Paul. Without Paul, the Rockets went on to lose the last two games of the series, ending the team’s run towards its first championship since 1995.
Coming into the 2018-19 season, the Rockets were projected to be the league’s biggest threat against another championship run by the Warriors. After the team’s first 25 games, fans have to be wondering if perhaps they have become one of the worst teams in the Western Conference with a dismal record of 11-14. That’s 14 losses in 25 games after having only 17 losses all of the last season.
Aside from a few nagging injuries that have plagued the starting five, something’s amiss. To begin with, the team is essentially the same as it was last year. They did sign Carmelo Anthony in the off-season, but the experiment with the future Hall-of Fame player was a bust. Team chemistry may have been an issue in the teams first 10 games. However, something stinks at the core.
Over the past two seasons, the Rockets have relied heavily on its 3-point shooters. In 2017-18, the Rockets actually led the league in 3-pointers attempted and made. It was enough to propel the team to be the #2 scoring team in the league at 112 points per game. While they still lead the league in attempts and stand 2nd in 3-pointers made, the shooting percentage has dropped from 36.2% to 33.7%. That’s a problem for a team that relies heavily on 3-pointers in a league that is scoring on par with games back in the 1980s and 90s. Currently, the Rockets rank 20th in the league in scoring at 108 PPG.
After close scrutiny, the rest of the numbers from this year look similar to last year. That leaves one to wonder if the team is still struggling with chemistry issues. The offense doesn’t seem to flow as smoothly. Players aren’t getting to their spots and when they do, the ball is late arriving. Bad flow on offense is causing players to be late getting back on defense. In the NBA, teams are more than happy to exploit these shortcomings.
Looking ahead through the rest of the season, there’s still plenty of time to right the ship. The Rockets are only four games behind the surprising Southwest-division leading Memphis Grizzlies. The team is going to have to play better against teams in the division and conference where the Rockets currently stand 1-4 and 5-11 respectively. There’s plenty of time to right the ship, but time has a habit of slipping away right before a team’s eyes.
