NBA power rankings week 13: Halfway mark, OKC Thunder hold steady

Houston Rockets:

Offense:(113.3) 3rd
Defense: (109.2) 17th
Net: (plus +4.1) 8th

Games Week 13 (0-3): Lost vs. Grizzlies: 110-121, Blazers: 107-117, Lakers: 115-124
Games Week 14 (4 games): Mon vs. Thunder | Weds vs. Nuggets| Fri at Wolves | Sun at Nuggets

Houston is in a big funk and much of it is directly tied to James Harden. The Rockets have lost three games in a row and four of their last five matches.

Defeats to an inspired OKC Thunder team and Lakers are understandable. But losses to the Grizzlies and Blazers in the same week simply can’t happen – not by teams who consider themselves title contenders especially with James Harden, Russell Westbrook, PJ Tucker, Eric Gordon, and Clint Capela all healthy.

Although some might assume Russell Westbrook is the problem and cite his inefficiency that was far from the case in week 13.

To wit:

Harden played in all three games in week 13 shooting 24 of 69 from the field (34.8 percent) and 8 of 34 from deep (23.5 percent).

In contrast, Westbrook didn’t play against Memphis but in his two games versus the Blazers and Lakers, he shot 26 of 45 (57.8 percent) and 2 of 5 from deep (40.0 percent).

This probably is a bit too harsh of a drop but the overall key stat categories of the Celtics are better and both squads are in big funks which could result in a turn around week or keep them mired in this malaise.