The Rockets still have one difficult question to answer in their quest for a title

The Houston Rockets look solid with a 7-3 record in 2025-26. Without a signature win to their name, there are still unanswered questions.

Every team in the league has to play the schedule. The Rockets can't help if they've had it easy. Still: They have. Through 10 games, the Rockets have faced few real challenges:

And they've come up short when they have.

Rockets are beating bad teams

Let's quickly review the teams the Rockets have beaten so far.

The Nets (1-10) and Wizards (1-11) fall into the "if the Rockets lose, it's a catastrophe" category. Beating them was a foregone conclusion. If it hadn't happened, there'd be reason to panic.

The Mavericks (3-9) and Grizzlies (4-9) aren't much better. They're both talented groups having perilous seasons. They're a tier above their Eastern Conference counterparts, but that's not saying much.

The Raptors (6-5), Bucks (7-5), and Celtics (6-7) fall into the last category. They're...fine? These are competitive groups, but the Rockets shouldn't be hanging their hats on these wins.

If anything, their best game of the season was a loss.

Rockets have been more impressive in losses

Taking the incumbent champions to double overtime and losing by a point should count for more than beating the Wizards by any margin. If you want hope that the Rockets are title contenders, you should look to their season opener against the Thunder.

Moreover, a 115-111 loss to a hungry Pistons team isn't so hard to swallow either. The Pistons are 10-2. They're in a comparable position to where the Rockets were last year - suddenly hypercompetitive, and eager to win.

A 121-110 loss to the 8-3 Spurs hurts, but if you watched the game, you know it was closer than the score indicates. It was a game of runs. The Rockets hung with the Spurs, but ultimately couldn't secure a win.

That's fine - but there are no moral victories in competing for the NBA title. A contending team needs to beat the bad teams, but guess what?

They need to beat the good teams, too.

The Mavericks are unlikely to be waiting for the Rockets in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Spurs might be. Until the Rockets prove they can beat teams of that caliber, it needs to be seen to be believed.

The good news? It's a long season. The Rockets will win plenty of games, and they'll surely beat some of the league's juggernauts.

Until then, some questions will remain unanswered.