Houston Rockets Slide in Latest NBA.com Power Rankings

The last week has been strange for the Houston Rockets, and not in a good way. Leading up to the NBA trade deadline, the belief was that the front office would aggressively go after a point guard, a position that the team has lacked all season long.

At this point, not having an offensive initiator has plagued the Rockets. They rank 26th in turnover percentage, giving up 15.3 per game. Without Fred VanVleet (torn ACL), Houston has been forced to run the position by committee, and it has held back an offense featuring Kevin Durant from reaching its full potential.

Instead, the Rockets will play out the season without any new additions, and will do so not only without VanVleet, but without Steven Adams (ankle surgery) as well. There are more questions than answers right now, especially considering they've lost two of their last three games by an average of 15.5 points.

That, combined with 27 of the league's 30 teams having made moves at the deadline, has resulted in Houston dropping from fourth to seventh in NBA.com's latest power rankings from John Schuhmann. The Rockets now sit one spot behind the Boston Celtics, who recently blew them out at the Toyota Center last Wednesday, 114-93. They're one spot ahead of the Phoenix Suns.

"The Rockets rank 27th offensively (110.2 points scored per 100 possessions) over their last 20 games, and they scored just 102.1 per 100 in their Wednesday-Thursday back-to-back, losing (at home) to the Celtics (without Jaylen Brown) and Hornets," Schuhmann wrote.

"The back-to-back was the end of a seven-game stretch in which Reed Sheppard shot 29%, including 9-for-43 (21%) from 3-point range...

"The Rockets remain a terrific offensive rebounding team, but rank 24th in defensive rebounding percentage since Steven Adams was lost for the season. They have also been outscored on second chances in six of their last seven games."

Not having Adams has left Houston without its biggest strength. The team is still on pace to break the offensive rebounding record, being the only team since 1996-97 to eclipse 38%. However, as Schuhmann noted, the Rockets have already felt the effects of not having their bruising center on the floor.

Like they've had to do regarding the point guard position, stars such as Durant and Alperen Sengun will have to get more active in the paint to keep that strength heavy. There are simply more questions that answers right now, as Houston has gone through numerous rough patches and hot streaks. As one of the more inconsistent teams in the NBA, the hope that things improve by the postseason.

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