I'm surprised no one has mentioned this besides Skycrasher saying they wouldn't go 40-0 to finish the season. While I agree that they most likely won't go 40-0, it's damn exciting that they have gone 22-0. The games have been getting more and more exciting as the streak continues. With the win yesterday they took over the number 1 spot in the west. Tuesday will be a tough game against the Celtics so it should be fun to watch. After that it's off to New Orleans for another tough one followed by @ Golden State and @Phoenix.

Skycrasher - Might want to tell the Suns to keep someone on Rafer.

I think Neesha is being cautiously opptimistic... dont jinx the streak!

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I tell you what, these guys are the real deal.

They're playing great, although a lot of their wins have been just pure luck. =P There have been some dirty wins and while that's a good thing, I don't think they're at the level where they can get far in the playoffs. We'll see though.

Funny thing is, the one team that I don't want to see the Rockets play is... Phoenix. They have no big man presence, so the thought of going against Shaq and Amare isn't too appealing. heh

This streak is definitely awesome. Even the sales guy at the car dealership I was at today was talking about it.

It's a great streak, but the Rockets can't win a seven game series against the top four teams in the west. The only tough road games they've played during the streak have been @Dallas and @New Orleans, and both of them were missing all stars. They've done a great job winning games they should win, but they haven't been tested much during the streak. They haven't played two consecutive games against teams with winning records, only two back-to-backs, and twice as many games at home vs. on the road. It's still impressive, every other team in the league has lost games they should have won during that time, but it doesn't catapult them into the upper echelon in the west.

They should beat Boston at home, but I don't see them making it out of the ensuing three game road trip without a loss. If they can keep the streak alive through those games then I might start to take them seriously. I do hope they stay out of the fifth spot though, because that's where I want to see New Orleans end up so D-Will and Chris Paul can face off against eachother in the playoffs.

I think Houston would do fine against Phoenix as long as they stay hot from the three point line. Phoenix has terrible perimeter defense and they're beatable even when Amare goes for 30+, I think they're like 7-5 when he scores that high.

they're not playing boston @ home. boston is on the "terrible texas three" -- spurs, rockets, and mavericks. all on the road, in texas. i foresee the rockets tomorrow. they beat the spurs tonight. shrug. houston would do ok if they had Yao, but that's the past -- they haven't played them since the Suns have had Shaq. It's up in the air atm how they'd do... they haven't played them w/ Yao since the Shaq acquisition. That game could go either way.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=280317024

saw that and thought "too bad they dont show how bad they're gettin beat in their own conference."

Sky -



That means in Houston for everyone else.

I love this argument. Houston is missing one of its "bigger" stars as well, in case you forgot.

Except Yao is incredibly overrated and is only a star because he's from China. Is Samuel Dalembert a star? Give him Yao's attempts/game and he has near identical stats except for a lower FT%.

I'm not saying the Dallas and New Orleans games were gimme games that don't count. They were tough games, but don't say all that much long term when both teams were missing key pieces that will be playing for them in the playoffs. Dallas with Dirk or New Orleans with West would have been a good measuring stick to see if Houston is for real.

And that concludes my attempt at discussing this topic with Droma Gnoma.

It is a nice streak, congrats to them!

However...

At one point in the season, they were 15-17. Before they started this streak, they were 24-20 and in 10th place in the West. Not numbers that are mind boggling, to say the least.

They are now in a rough patch where potentially they can lose four in a row. But forget that, let's discuss the most important thing- the playoffs.

I honestly thought they would not make the playoffs. I am wrong, especially after Denver losing tonight in Philly, and Iverson's comments that he may want to end his career in Philly. While that is just the emotion of tonight, they are now 3 back (4, pending what Golden State does tonight) with what, 15 or so games left? No bueno for Denver, they need to have a Houston-like streak just to make the playoffs. So assume the top 8 will get in, let's discuss match ups:

-vs San Antonio- no good. Duncan will eat them alive, Parker will penetrate on that team.
-vs Los Angeles- no good. Bryant in the playoffs is near unstoppable, Gasol will eat them up inside, and Bynum should be back by then.
-vs New Orleans- push. Both teams are playoff inexperienced when it comes to winning series, so no advantage to either. And Paul may make this his coming out party, if he has not already done so.
-vs Utah- no good. Utah has the defense to handle McGrady, Williams has control of their offense, Boozer can handle their inside w/o Yao.
-vs Phoenix- no good. Phoenix can score, Shaq and Amare will dominate against Landry and Mutombo. O and Nash can kinda play point well.
-vs Dallas- push/good. Nowitzki is not a low post presence, so they won't have to worry bout being dominated inside. Kidd and Harris seem to wash each other out, Dallas did not really improve with the Kidd trade... just a lateral move.
-vs Golden State- no good. While GS don't have the size, they will run up and down the court and get Houston completely out of their game.

So overall, 1 team Houston kinda matches up well against.... 1 team they are evenly matched... and the other 5, not so much. Again, congrats on an amazing streak, be proud of it! But expect another first round ouster like always...

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Not only did they lose, they managed to suck horribly from the second half of the Celtics game on!

Would be another record to go 22-0 and then 0-18?