Numbers Prove Houston Rockets are Worse Than Most Think

Okay, can we all agree that this is one of the most disappointing seasons in Rockets’ history. With a quarter of the NBA season already in the past, it is astonishing how terrible the Rockets have looked this year.

For a team that came into the season with championship expectations, the Houston Rockets has experienced more hard times than anyone could imagine. In the first 26 games, the Rockets have seen their share of frustrations.

They opened the season with three straight 20 point losses, became one of the league’s worst defensive teams, and fired their head coach Kevin McHale after a 4-7 start.

Sitting at 12-14 on the year, it is obvious that this is not the same team that won 56 games and advanced to the Western Conference Finals last season. Every time the Rockets have looked like they had found their mojo, the team find new ways to lose in another embarrassing and shocking manner.

How can this team say that they are competing for a championship, and then allow Denver Nuggets‘ forward Will Barton to average career numbers against them? This season has been so weird, statistically speaking, the Rockets are one of the worst teams in the league. In almost every major category, Houston ranked among the bottom half of the league.

The Rockets biggest problem this season has become their lack of effort on the defensive end. As this very moment, Houston has allowed their opponents to score 107.1 points per game. Making them the fourth worst defensive team in the league.

The reason their opponents do not have any problem scoring is due to their high field goal percentages. Houston has allowed their opponents to shoot 46.9 percent from the field, which is the highest percentage of any team this season. Even the league’s most insufficient offensive team, the Philadelphia 76ers, did not have any obstacles scoring on the Rockets.

Even though they lost by two points, the 76ers still managed to score a season high 114 points, while shooting 48 percent from the field. Yes, this is the same team that is averaging 90 points per game on 40 percent shooting as a team.

Unfortunately, defense is not the only problem in Houston. The Rockets have become one of the worst rebounding teams in the league. Which is surprising since they have always ranked in the top half over the past four seasons.

With a differential percentage of -2.6, Houston is giving up 46.0 rebounds per game to their opponents. With an average of 43.1 boards, the Rockets are currently ranked 21st in rebounding this season. Which is their lowest since 2002. Yes, a team with Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza, and Patrick Beverley manage to become one of the worst defensive teams in the association!

Dude https://t.co/jqlwLISfJC

— The Dream Shake (@DreamShakeSBN) December 1, 2015

While Houston is facing a variety of problems on the defensive end, they have seen their share of troubles offensively as well. Despite being the fifth highest scoring team at 104.4 point per game, the Rockets are one of the worst shooting teams in the league at 43.0 percent on the season.

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The lack of secondary consistent scorer has hurt the Rockets this season as well. With 28 points per game, James Harden is the only consistent scorer the Rockets have and the only player who is averaging over 14.0 points. The next highest scoring Rocket on the team is Howard with 13.0 per game.

Yes, a team with Ty Lawson and Dwight Howard have only one player scoring more than 14 points per game!

However, their biggest headache offensively has been taking care of the ball. The Rockets have the second highest turnover percentage in the league with 16.3 per game. They cannot score if they keep giving up the ball more than their opponents during games.

Just checkout the 22 turnovers the Rockets had against the Boston Celtics earlier this season.

Thankfully, the Rockets still have enough time to turn their season around, but with the ever evolving trade rumors, and reports about Harden and Howard not getting along will make a mid season turnaround more difficult.

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Regardless of what happen this season, it safe to say the Rockets’ championship aspirations are starting to sink faster than the Titanic.

This is getting pathetic!

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