The Rockets Aren't Immune To Letdown Losses

The Houston Rockets have improved in several ways this season. Their shooting is much better which has led to a high-performing offense. They are also improving defensively as the season progresses. However, they are not unbeatable, proven by difficult losses against the Utah Jazz and the Dallas Mavericks.

The Rockets may not be immune to these kinds of losses, but they need to find a way to limit them from occurring and bouncing back when they do happen.

Houston bounced back in a big way after a disappointing loss to the Jazz. The Rockets moved on to crush the Sacramento Kings by nearly 30 points in a huge game offensively. They did the same after their loss against the Denver Nuggets at home, beating the Phoenix Suns by over 20 points in the following game.

The Nuggets are one of the best teams in the league, so losses against them aren't as egregious as defeats to the Jazz or this year's Mavericks. However, each team has a few talented players that help keep their teams compete like Lauri Markkanen for the Jazz and Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis for the Mavericks.

The Rockets are moving on to face a Los Angeles Clippers team that has a similar situation to those teams.

Kawhi Leonard and James Harden are all-time players that are still producing at a fairly high level. However, the team has been struggling this season as they've navigated controversy and poor team play.

The Rockets are in a strong position to be able to bounce back against the Clippers after a multi-day break to contemplate their loss against the Mavericks.

Houston struggled scoring without the help of Alperen Sengun to run the offense. Sengun would have also helped make Davis and Flagg have to work on defense, giving them more responsibility than just picking the Rockets apart offensively.

So far, the Rockets have proven they can bounce back from difficult losses, but they aren't currently built to avoid losses when they aren't playing their best.

No team in the Western Conference is immune from a letdown defeat except for the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, any team in the West looking to win a championship or make the Finals must go through the Thunder to get there, meaning their performance will constantly be compared to Oklahoma City's high output.

The Rockets are one of the teams that believes they can give the Thunder a run for their money in the playoffs, so they must use any disappointing losses to their advantage to learn how to respond in the future.