The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Western Conference Opponents Inching Closer To The Rockets In NBA Standings

Episode Date: March 6, 2025

As the start of the 2025 NBA Playoffs approaches, the Rockets are currently the fifth-best team in the Western Conference. However, Houston is on a three-game losing streak, and other conference foes are inching closer in the standings, threatening the Rockets' postseason position. The Golden State Warriors have gone 9-2 since trading for Jimmy Butler in early February, and the Minnesota Timberwolves are regrouping with injured players returning to the lineup. The Warriors are the sixth-best team in the Western Conference and are within three games of overtaking the Rockets for the No. 5 seed. Golden State holds the season tiebreaker over the Rockets. With the Warriors and Timberwolves on their heels, can the Rockets string together some wins to distance themselves in the standings ahead of their first playoff appearance since 2020?

I'm coming to you today from New Orleans, where tonight the Houston Rockets will take on the New Orleans Pelicans. The rockets are facing pressure from teams behind them in the Western Conference. Let me give you the very latest standings as we speak, and I can do that right now as soon as my phone works. I can do it, that I'm here for you. All right, so the Rockets right now are in the five spot in the West. They're a game behind Memphis who lost last night to Oklahoma City. Wonderful. Rockets would have the tiebreaker over Memphis.

Yes. So if it's a four-five matchup with Memphis, the Rockets have won three of the four games against the Grizzlies and would have home court. The Golden State Warriors are three-back of the Rockets for the Five-Spot. Also, Minnesota is three-back of the Rockets for the Five-Spot. Minnesota is at seven. The L.A. Clippers are four-back of the Rockets.

Jesus. The Kings are four. and a half back and the Mavericks who are going to drop out of the 10th spot for sure are 5 and a half back. The question is, will Dallas Phil Phoenix or maybe this hot Portland team inherit

that 10 spot? Because there's no way Dallas can compete with AD still missing time and Kyrie Irving's done for the year. By the way, Dallas got destroyed last night in the NBA, so. I'm getting nervous. Rockets need these two. They just didn't, I mean, they're not they're not must wins, but if they don't, if they don't win both

James, I think it'll be considered to disappointment. It'll be a disappointment. I mean, well, they've already been disappointing us. There have basically been a 500 team since the calendar turn. Not great. Fred Van Vleet's already listed it out, correct? Yeah, Fred is definitely out for today. Is it because Fred's been gone so much? Is it because the teams got to the teams have caught up with the rockets? Is it because the rockets have turned the ball over a lot? Is it because the rockets? And this is not my words.

I mean, I think has been looking for an intensity boost here and it hasn't happened. I think it's a combination of all those things. You know, one of the things that Wex brought up yesterday, I was listening to A-Team on the I Heart Radio app, which all you should do. Yeah. He said he doesn't see the rockets getting overly upset when they lose. Now, I've said this before in every professional sport I've ever covered before my life. fans and media take losses way more

in terms of passion, emotion, fire, hurt than the players ever do. And that's not just the Houston Rockets, that's the Los Angeles Kings, that's the Denver Broncos, that's every sports team. Some guys are obviously upset, but most of them Rossi,

it's just one game on the schedule. Or it's one year, or it's, I've got my money. Or, you know, we just don't, we don't ever think that, so we should think, that players are as upset about losses that we are. I'm not saying the Rockets are guilty of this more than anybody else. But point being is this, is that they shake these things off because if you don't, if you all of a sudden let a game against Brooklyn where you lost two weeks ago,

sit there and manifest, you're never going to get over. You have to shake it and move on. Yeah, a lot of these, you know, look, to reach these heights that they do, you're talking about a lot of mentally strong players, and they also generally do view it as a business. Remember, like, speaking of James Hardin, remember they had that horrible loss to San Antonio, and then there was video of Hardin at the club,

and a bunch of fans got all upset, like, how could he lose and then go to the club? This is unbelievable. It's like, oh, he had a bad day at work, and he went to go drink at the club? You're shocked? Relax, people. And I think there's really no better example of things

is when you see, teams play a game, what's the very first thing to do once the buzzer goes off? They go to their team and go hug the player. Yeah, and that especially happens more nowadays because a lot of these players grow up in the same circles and train with each other in the off-season, have the same agents.

It's just different time. Now, I'll say this. I don't think if you all of a sudden, if the Rockets lose tonight to New Orleans, should anybody go in the locker room and throw the food around in the in the Gatorade bottles? I mean, that doesn't last either. Sometimes you have the heart to have the heart-to-heart talk. Sometimes you have

have the team only meaning, whatever the case. And it's funny, anytime anybody you hear of having a player's only meeting, and I'm like, uh-oh, something's really wrong. It usually means the season is about to get worse. Right. So it is a marathon. But what I would say is this, I would hope the Rockets can put together some sort of mojo here

towards the last third of the season because they work so hard, Ross, in the first two, three months of the season, really in the first two and a half months, to be the second best team in the Western Conference. They did work their ass off to get. to Las Vegas to play in that game. They did knock off Golden State in the first half of the year. They did beat Cleveland twice this year.

They did beat Boston in Boston. They did beat Oklahoma City. They've beaten down. And they have a lot of quality wins. And I would hate for them to be ruined because of all of a sudden this 500 team they have been basically for the last two months or so. Well, it's very simple. They just have to avoid all that. Just win games.

You've got the weakest schedule of those teams that we talked about. And we've been talking about this for a while. Yeah. The Lakers, Nuggets, and Grizzlies all have harder schedules in you. And you've lost three in a row. And the reality is this. I think at this point of the season, for them to play 750 basketball at rest of the way is a patently absurd.

You're not going to win every game. I just think at this point, with all of the subpar losses, the rockets have picked up since the calendar your turn. I'm talking about the two games against Brooklyn, the Utah game. Detroit no longer is a bad loss because Detroit's about to move up the Eastern Conference standing really quick. I'm trying to think there's anybody else that was a terrible, terrible loss.

Sacramento at home wasn't great because, again, you want to win home games, you're supposed to be beating teams that you think are talent-wise. My point is, I don't think there's any more room for the shaking my head loss. No. Because if you get much more of that, you're going to be sitting there

maybe dropping to six, and then it really things get dicey. Maybe you're having to play that playing game. I mean, to go from 2 to 7, I think would be a huge buzzkill for what has been overall a very positive season for the Houston Rockets. Opponent win percentage, strength

of schedule remaining. Lakers 2nd, Denver 5th, Memphis 11th, Rockets 23rd. Get it done. No excuses. And that would include, again, you think about this. You have the two New Orleans games. You got tonight here in New Orleans.

and then you have Saturday for New Orleans. And then you've got a boatload of home games. Let me look at these home games real quick before we move on some of the things here. Rockets have six of the next seven at home. At New Orleans tonight, then six straight home games. New Orleans, Orlando, they're tanking quick. Phoenix, they're the 11th spot in the West.

Yeah, they're 11th. Dallas, no Kyrie, no more. more Luca, no Anthony Davis, Chicago who has sucked all year long, and Philadelphia who sucked all year. Ross, that's a six-and-one stretch, correct? Nothing less than that would be disappointing? In theory. Then you have the Florida swing with Orlando and Miami.

My guess is, you know, you haven't played really well in Miami the last handful of years. A lot of teams don't play well in Miami because, I mean, it's Miami. Then you have Denver, Atlanta, who cares? At Utah, at Phoenix and the Lakers. That's a two-and-one road trip, you hope. Then you have Utah, Oklahoma City. You hope to split that. At Golden State, at the Clippers, at the Lakers,

and home for Denver. Ooh, that's a tough four-game stretch to end the year. Yeah, Ross, I'm going to say if this team does not go six and one, I know one will publicly say this, but I think that internally within the organization, they've got to be thinking, we've got to win six the next seven games. That'd be nice.

And that would, I think, would put a lot of people at these. Now, again, I don't think the rockets are considered by many folks as NBA title contenders, but I think for this to be a season where you go, man, this really was fun. There were some ebbs and flows, and sometimes there were some down moments, like there isn't any NBA season, but

the rockets have risen to the occasion. And what makes things worse, unfortunately, is the fact that you've got the teams in front of them, for the most part, playing better. The Lakers don't seem to ever want to lose. Denver's playing better. Memphis is in a tailspin, but Golden State, Minnesota, the clippers are all playing better

right now. So selfishly, I want six and one. And based on the calendar and who they're playing and the fact that six of those seven home games are those games are at home, they should go six and one. It'd be nice. I'm not going to hold my breath. It'd be nice.

That would put them then at 43 and 26. Sounds a lot sexier than right now at 37 and 25. As a Rockets, I think I've lost, what, eight consecutive road games, I think. Haven't won a game this month or in February, for that matter. I think the last road one was in Atlanta, and that was in late January.