Rockets inexcusably slighted in latest power rankings

The 2023-24 new-look Houston Rockets have largely lived up to the expectations of fans entering the season. The Rockets laid a goose egg in the season opener against the Orlando Magic and fell 116-86, but they've been competitive in each of their other games.

The Rockets were a few questionable calls away from securing another victory against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, as they fell in overtime 126-122, and they held a fourth quarter lead over the Golden State Warriors before Stephen Curry went nuclear and dropped 14 points in the final period.

Since then, the Rockets have gone on a two-game winning streak, securing a convincing win over the Charlotte Hornets and beating the Sacramento Kings, last year's Cinderella team in their in-season tournament opener. Taking the Orlando game away, the Rockets have given fans reason for optimism.

The Rockets are also one of only three teams with five 14-point scorers, joining the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets.

But not everyone has been paying attention, it seems, as the Rockets were horribly slighted in the latest power ranking.

Latest power ranking has the Rockets entirely too low.

Where do we start here? Why don't we start with where the Memphis Grizzlies are ranked?

They've looked like the worst team in the league and have a 1-6 record. In spite of that, they're ranked 25th, while the Rockets are 29th.

The Portland Trail Blazers should arguably be lower than the Rockets. The writer was asked about the basis of his rankings and he stated that they're based on pre-season rankings, in season performance, and suspensions/injuries.

This simply can't be true if he has the Rockets at 29th and behind the Blazers and Chicago Bulls. And what about the San Antonio Spurs, who sit 22nd on his list, despite having the same number of losses?

The last time we saw these teams go head-to-head, they were quite evenly matched, so what't the justification for them being seven spots ahead of the Rockets?

It's hard to take some of these writers seriously when there's no subjective analysis for slights like this. Instead, it seems to be a matter of engagement farming and agenda spewing.