Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka doesn’t routinely check the NBA standings, but he’s well aware of where his team currently stands with 16 games left in the 2023-24 regular season.
Courtesy of their home victory 135-119 Facing the Washington Wizards on Thursday, the Rockets (31-35) moved closer in the standings to the Golden State Warriors (34-31), who are now 3.5 games ahead for the last place in the play-in tournament. the Western Conference. berth for the 2023-24 playoffs. The two teams will meet at the Toyota Center on April 4 and playoff implications could be in play.
“I know we are a few games behind some teams, so we want to continue playing this way, and whatever happens, we will live with the results,” Udoka said during the post-match of THURSDAY. “We’ll obviously need some help, but as far as that goes, it’s somewhat self-inflicted with the games we gave away earlier. [in the season]. That’s what we were looking for, more consistency across the board, like that.
Houston is currently on a four-game winning streak, which is the longest in the 2024 calendar year. They won six games in a row in early November and five more in a row in December. The Rockets are now 6-1 in March, with the only loss coming to the Los Angeles Clippers – in a game they led by 20 points in the first half.
“I know we are a few games behind some teams, so we want to continue playing this way, and whatever happens, we will live with the results,” Udoka said during his press conference. ‘post-match, asked about the play-in tournament. #Rockets #Serge @TheRocketsWire pic.twitter.com/MzVhAPXb8j
– #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) March 15, 2024
Houston plays nine of its next 16 games against teams currently in the playoffs or play-in, and so they will need to play almost perfectly to make the playoffs.
This task would be more achievable for the young Rockets team if they were fully healthy. Unfortunately, third-year center Alperen Sengun (ankle), rookie forward Cam Whitmore (knee) and second-year forward Tari Eason (leg) are all currently out of the rotation.
“Too bad Alpi [Sengun] and Cam fall at a time when we are really making an effort,” Udoka told reporters Thursday. “Others will have to step up, and I think they have.” More than talking about rankings, we’re just going to try to continue playing good basketball and see what happens with the others.
The Rockets will look to keep their playoff hopes alive on Saturday with an early Central game at 4 p.m. against the Cavaliers. Led by Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland (42-24) is third in the East standings, which should present a significant challenge to Udoka’s Rockets.
