In our ongoing series, CBSSports.com's Eye On Basketball will take a look at contending teams as they head into the NBA playoffs. Today we look at the Houston Rockets.
As MVP cases for both James Harden and Stephen Curry are made, the act of determining what "value" is becomes extremely difficult. Curry has led the NBA's best team all season long and he's probably had the most moments to define a season. He ends up unwittingly creating the most Vines. He's the reason to stay up for West Coast games. This season has been defined by his watchability.
For Harden, the value is a little different. The Houston Rockets are in some kind of Rock-Paper-Scissors game for the 2-seed in the West and it's come because he has been able to lead them to victory time and time again despite their injuries. Dwight Howard was brought in to be the second star next to Harden and he's missed 40 games. Patrick Beverly, who is the defensive-minded pest paired with Harden in the backcourt, is going to have missed 26 games and the entire playoffs.
Terrence Jones will have missed roughly 50 games by season's end and his platoon partner at the power forward position Donatas Motiejunas gets to finish off his very encouraging 2014-15 campaign with a back injury that will keep him out of the playoffs. Major contributors keep dropping for the Rockets and Harden keeps pulling them through to victories. It's a big reason he'll end up finishing Top 2 in MVP voting. What does that mean for their postseason chances, though?
The Rockets' road to the Finals is either the field of land mines that is the ultra-competitive Western Conference playoffs or their road is simply the training room that has had as much of a workout this season as it did when Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were supposed to be the star-studded duo leading the Rockets to the Finals. Those guys couldn't do it because health and poor playoff circumstances just never allowed it.
They didn't get out of the first round except for the 2009 playoffs and McGrady didn't even play that postseason due to injury. Yao played in nine games that postseason but suffered another foot injury that took him out of the action that May. At a certain point, you worry about history repeating itself with this latest Rockets' combination.
While Harden has had to carry the team on his back all season, he doesn't seem to be suffering from a health standpoint. Howard, on the other hand, has to find a way to be the superstar we've seen from him in the past. In fact, finding your former star status will be the key to the Rockets making a deep playoff run and avoiding the first round exits that have stamped their past two postseasons.
Howard is needed in the pick-and-roll because he's still a devastating force when he gives up the post and starts trying to score on the move. That's what made him so great in Stan Van Gundy's offense and it's what will pair perfectly with Harden's pick-and-roll capabilities. They also need his defense and rebounding to be top notch against frontcourts like Memphis or San Antonio or Portland or the Clippers or the Warriors.
Outside of Howard regaining a star status, they're looking for Josh Smith to be a key contributor and Jason Terry to be the complementing guard next to Harden. They need Trevor Ariza to be a star type of role player on both ends of the floor. And most of all, they need enough guys to be healthy enough to be around and in a consistent rotation of Kevin McHale's when the playoffs get here next week. At this rate, the Rockets can't even be sure of that possibility.
The Rockets are an interesting marriage between the old school mentality of a coach like McHale and the new school analytical view of basketball like their GM Daryl Morey. McHale has helped motivate them and coach them into being a Top 10 defense (eighth), which is quite the feat considering they were 12th last year and missed Howard for half the season this year. They've been a middle of the road team protecting the paint, but they've managed to be the best team defending the 3-point line.
That's fitting for them considering the emphasis they put on 3-pointers. The Rockets shattered the team record for 3s made in a season this season after breaking the old record with the New York Knicks back in 2012-13. The Knicks held the record of 891 until the Rockets made 903 treys through 79 games this season. They also annihilated the record for 3-pointers attempted in a season by over 200 and counting.
While the Rockets will need Howard, Smith, and Jones to put pressure on teams inside on both ends of the floor this postseason, the 3-point line will ultimately be their main focus. Stop 3s from bombarding your defense and make them uncomfortable with how you attack them from the perimeter. That should give Harden enough room to operate down the stretch and be the clutch scorer they've needed him to be all season long.
And that's how they can get to the Finals. Go with what works regarding the 3-point line, maximize the talent you've seen from their individual players in the past, and hope Harden pulls off the same magic winning games in the postseason as he has done in the regular season.
That is ... as long as they can remain this healthy.