Rockets coming tantalizingly close to cracking the top-10 in huge NBA playoff stat

Barring catastrophe, the Houston Rockets will make the playoffs in 2025-26. If they win enough games, they could make history by climbing into the NBA's top-10 all-time team playoff wins.

That won't come as a shock to long-time Rockets fans. If anything, they may have expected Houston to already be in that company. For most of the franchise's storied history, they've been a playoff lock.

Newer fans may be surprised to see that they currently sit 12th in those rankings. The Rockets? They just started making the playoffs!

The recent tanking seasons may have hurt Houston's standing in this area. The margins are thin.

That's why they've got a chance to get into the top-10 this year.

Rockets have a chance to make history in 2025-26

As of now, the Rockets are just 2 wins behind the Heat for the 11th spot.

If Houston makes the playoffs and the Heat miss them (as was the case last season), the Rockets will almost surely leapfrog the Heat. If they get swept (or only win one game) in the playoffs, Rockets fans won't be thinking about all-time playoff wins. They'll be thinking about how disastrous the Kevin Durant trade was.

After Miami, the Hawks stand in the way. With 170 wins, they'll be more difficult to pass. The Rockets would have to win 9 playoff games without the Hawks winning any, or the Rockets would have to practically win the NBA championship if Atlanta has any success.

The Rockets have garnered considerable praise for their offseason, but so have the Hawks. They've made massive improvements to their roster. They could easily win a playoff series and keep the Rockets' top-10 status on this list out of reach.

Does it matter?

Rockets need to win for multiple reasons

Forget history. Focus on the here and now:

The Rockets need to have a successful 2025-26 season.

What does that look like? It depends on who you ask. If the team doesn't win a playoff series, that'll be a failure. Some would suggest that the Rockets need to make a Western Conference Finals run to count their season as a success.

If that happens, they'll make some history in the process. That would be nice. Being one of the top-10 NBA teams in playoff wins speaks to an organization's long-term competence. Still, the Rockets will be more concerned with demonstrating their competence in the first place:

But they need to make the playoffs first.