Ben DuBose

In both of them, they limped into the All-Star break.

Year one, they were six games under after a pretty good start to the year.

Year two, they had that six-game losing streak right before the trade deadline, right before the All-Star break.

And then in the second half of both of those years, post-All-Star break two years ago, Emu Joka's debut season in Houston, Rockets were 17-11, including the 11-game winning streak in March when Jalen Green just went off.

Last year, they were 18-9 after the All-Star break, and that included three games at the end of the year that meant nothing.

So they were basically 18-6.

They clinched the number two seed with three games left to play, and they had a nine-game winning streak in March.

So they played their best ball after the All-Star break, and I think it honestly...

Makes a lot of sense.

I think Imi Udoka is a guy who expects a lot from his teams effort-wise, especially on defense.

And so I think the stretch between the end of the NBA Cup in December and the All-Star break in early February, those six or seven weeks, there's a lot of games jam-packed into a tight window, and even more so for the Rockets, as spaced out as the schedule was early in the year, so the Rockets had to catch up.

And that tight schedule to make room for those weeks in which there's minimal to no activity,

I mean, it's tough for a team that, in this case, has two of the top three guys in minutes per game in KD and Amin.

It's led by a 37-year-old star in KD who might be more prone to fatigue, and he was turning the ball over a lot in the last few games before the All-Star break.

Also had an issue with his ankle.

And I think Ime Udoka has always been a coach who doesn't go as deep with his rotation as a lot of fans would like.

So it's a tighter rotation than usual, at least relative to some teams around the NBA.

It's a coaching staff that expects a lot effort-wise.

Some of the key players are veterans who play extended minutes.

I do think there's a case to be made that this team has been on fumes the last few years going into the All-Star break.