Rockets enjoy twofold blessing from Strength of Schedule Gods

Some of the shine is wearing off of the Houston Rockets.

For much of the 2024-25 NBA season, the Rockets were the league's most compelling underdog story. The team had skyrocketed past expectations. Nobody thought the Rockets would be on track to bonafide title contention.

Now, it looks like they've fallen off of that track. The Rockets are sputtering. They once maintained a stranglehold on the second seed in the Western Conference, but after going 3-7 in their last 10 contests, they've fallen to fifth.

Luckily, they've got a wonderful opportunity to get back on track.

Rockets have easy remaining strength of schedule

The Rockets have the 17th-hardest remaining schedule in the NBA. More notably, that's the third-easiest remaining schedule in the Western Conference.

What more could the Rockets need? This is a team that's been decimated by injuries lately. The Rockets haven't had particular trouble with durability throughout the year, but they've been bitten hard by the injury bug lately.

That's life in the NBA. Every team is at the mercy of dumb luck. So, the Rockets should count themselves lucky to have such an easy upcoming schedule.

That's not the only stroke of luck the remaining schedule has granted them.

Rockets' rivals have a tough road ahead

Who has the hardest remaining schedule? That would be the Phoenix Suns.

Diehard Rockets fans are already salivating. They don't need an explanation as to why this matters for the Rockets. In case you're new around here, let's elaborate.

The Rockets own the Suns' next first-round pick. There are no protections. If the Suns' pick lands first overall, guess what? Cooper Flagg is a Rocket.

As of this writing, that's got a modest 1.5% chance of happening. Rockets fans should put Flagg out of their mind. At 27-30, the Suns could lose every game left in the season without sniffing the Wizards' prolifically poor record. They're currently 9-47. Washington has the second-easiest remaining schedule in the league, but rest assured that they'll do plenty of losing.

Sure, being in the Flagg picture at all is exciting. The point is a broader one. The Rockets' Suns pick is most likely to land 12th at this very moment. With the league's hardest remaining schedule, those odds will likely improve.

As it stands, the Hawks are one spot ahead of the Suns at 26-31. They owe their pick to the Spurs, so they have no incentive to lose. Speaking of the Spurs, they're 24-31. Having lost Victor Wembanyama, they may opt to tank the rest of their season. Given how difficult Phoenix's remaining schedule is, out-tanking them may prove difficult for a San Antonio team that just landed De'Aaron Fox.

How about the Trail Blazers? They've been surprisingly competitive lately. At 24-33, they could pass the Suns. So could a 22-35 Bulls team that seems chronically averse to tanking.

Nobody should get too far ahead of themselves. Even if this pick lands 12th, that's a tremendous fortune for a fifth-seeded Rockets fan.

Who knows what seed they'll be when their easy schedule wraps up?