ESPN's model still sees the Rockets as a top seed despite infuriating month

The Houston Rockets had some frustrating moments in December. They dropped games to the Utah Jazz, the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, the Denver Nuggets, the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Los Angeles Clippers.

At times, Kevin Durant failed to take over in clutch moments, leaving the team stuck in many of the bad offensive habits that limited their ceiling last season. They currently possess a 20-10 record: good for the fourth seed in a loaded Western Conference.

However, they have gotten back on track with two more big wins since their Christmas Day rout of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Rockets fans can rest easy knowing that ESPN's Basketball Power Index still projects them to finish with the second seed in the West.

The model is, of course, based solely upon numbers and simulations, and any team could quickly fall behind with a rough stretch given the way the conference is stacked up. Nevertheless, Houston is still in prime position to set themselves up well for playoff success.

The Rockets are still one of the West's scariest teams- if their limitations do not prove to be too great

Early in the season, the Rockets got a lot of airtime as one of the NBA's most confusingly dominant teams. They have played an untraditional brand of basketball throughout this campaign, claiming a low volume of perimeter shots in favor of second-chance points and open looks when they have been available.

At times this game-plan has seemed unbeatable. At others, it has made the team look deeply vulnerable and unproductive.

According to Kevin Pelton at ESPN, the Rockets are favored by the model as a result of their weak strength of schedule moving forward and their impressive point differential to this point in the season.

However, anyone who has seen this team play over the last month knows their vulnerabilities could easily prevent them from reaching these heights.

While they are still a dominant offensive team, their defense has waned at times (especially in some of their most important moments). Isolated to just the fourth quarter, they have the third-worst defensive rating in the NBA: a searing 122.2 that signifies a stark departure from their usual identity.

They have successfully beaten the Nuggets and the Lakers once, but their poor record against their peers at the top of the West is also a cause for concern.

At the same time, they still maintain the NBA's second-best offense and eighth-best defense while absolutely dominating the boards and making the most of their limited volume from beyond the arc.

It should be celebrated, therefore, that the Rockets are in prime position to jockey for seeding at this point in the season. One must only hope that ESPN's model proves to be correct.