NBA Power Ranking Lists: How Pundits Rank Houston Rockets Week 18

Where National Pundits place Houston Rockets on NBA Power Ranking Lists week 18

Week 18 of the 2015-16 season is in the books and with that the new NBA Power Ranking Lists are out, so lets take a look at where the Houston Rockets were ranked.

In Week 18 the Houston Rockets had 3 games featuring the Trail Blazers for the third time in short succession, as well as the Jazz and their final meeting this season with the Spurs. They lost two of these games (Jazz and Spurs) and needed to erase a 21 point lead against the Blazers to win that game. In week 19 the Rockets play 3 games once again, this time facing the Bucks, Pelicans and Bulls.

Lets see where the pundits rank the Rockets in week 18:

Pundits Lists:

John Schuhmann of nba.com The man who owns the top ranked power ranking list points out the obvious regarding Josh Smith and his less than stellar return to the Rockets. Then again, that’s the problem with hinging all your hopes on one player to save a season… it doesn’t usually work out well. Full week 18 list

Matt Moore of CBS Moore raises the Rockets 4 spots following the Rockets big win over the Blazers. Understandably he calls week 18 a pivotal week in their schedule. I mean at this point what week or game isn’t pivotal as the Rockets languish in the 8th seed currently awaiting a date with the team whose lost just 5 games all season and haven’t lost on their home court. It’s not exactly something H-Town fans can look forward to! Here’s his Complete list

Marc Stein ESPN Stein has closely mirrored my picks throughout the season and also been one of the more positive advocates of the Rockets. This week he holds them steady at 17. Like him I’m starting to wonder if the Rockets will fall off the playoff ladder or if they’re simply teasing us all and will enter the post season on an upswing of momentum. If it’s the latter the Rockets could play spoiler with their talent and under achieved results of the regular season. Full List .

Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated Drops the Rockets 1 spot for the second consecutive week and notes he’s not only lost faith, but worse interest in the Rockets. As Houston continues their up and down efforts and unreliability it’s easy to understand why. His full list is here.

Power Rank week 18 Jeremy Woo /

USA Today Panels the panel makes an extremely valid point; instead of opining on how inconsistent the Rockets have been they note it’s a miracle they’ve maintained the 8 seed in spite of their inconsistencies and internal chemistry issues. Here’s their full power ranking list

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Finally, Jeff Sagarin of USA Today as per usual utilizes analytics to determine his list and places the Rockets 16th in two of his 3 lists, but places them 14th in their recent performances. Here’s his full list.

Power Rank week 18 Jeff Sagarin /

That wraps up the National Media NBA Power Ranking Lists for Week 18 of the season. What are your thoughts on how the pundits ranked the Rockets? Let us know in the comments section below.

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