Rockets in Crowded Western Conference Tier Amid Playoff Race

The tiers of NBA teams are relatively set at this point in the regular season, with the Oklahoma City Thunder at the top of the Western Conference by a country mile. As the Thunder continue to soar, the second tier of teams in the league, specifically the West, continue to battle it out for that coveted No. 2 seed.

The Houston Rockets are one of the four teams in a tight race for home-court advantage. The Rockets, along with the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, and Memphis Grizzlies, are within two games of reach. Over the last month, the standings have shifted drastically each night as a result.

Houston held the second seed at the start of February, but a rough month that featured a six-game losing streak dropped the team to fifth in the West, creating space for the other three teams. Now, the Lakers have more firepower with Luka Doncic starting to look like his usual self, and the Nuggets and Grizzlies have continued to beat good teams.

The Rockets have a 5-8 record since Feb. 1 and have been on a general decline due to a variety of injuries and poor play on both sides of the ball. Just over a month from the postseason, Houston will need to find an answer fast, or else the team could drop out of the hunt for a top-four seed.

The Rockets have the 18th-hardest remaining schedule in the league, according to Tankathon, so they should return to form sooner than later. However, the West is far more competitive than the East, which means there's nearly no room for error. Houston has prided itself on defense this season, but in its last 13 games, the team has dropped outside the top 10 in such category.

The core of the Rockets is still young and developing, so bumps in the road are expected. However, it's hard to watch the team now and understand that they were once the clear No. 2 seed in the West less than two months ago.

While any sort of postseason basketball would be a major step for Houston's development, it would be hard not to admit that dropping home-court advantage, or to the Play-In Tournament, would be a disappointment.