On Monday, in the aftermath of the Houston Rockets’ 13-point win over the Orlando Magic, Steven Adams noted something that three quarters of the way through the season should be apparent. “This,” Adams said, “isn’t a fluke.” The this Adams was referring to was how Houston, down two starters with Fred VanVleet and Amen Thompson out, came together to beat Orlando. It could have been how the Rockets have collected 41 wins, matching last season’s total. Or that Houston’s winning percentage (62.1%) is the best since the Mike D’Antoni era. Or that the Rockets, a playoff outsider since 2020, are on track to crack the Western Conference’s top six.
“From the start to now,” Adams said, “we’ve grown tremendously.”
