Dave Hardisty

And even if it does happen, there's definitely going to be some games that you lose along the way when you look and say...

wow, we probably would have won this game with Steven Adams.

Okay, that's fair.

But as we've said plenty of times, Dave, and I'm curious your thoughts on this, Adam.

To me, this is a team where with a 37-year-old Kevin Durant, this isn't like last season where you're just trying to get to the playoffs and, or I should say last season, you know, get the best seed you can and maximize every win over the regular season.

where they got that two seed last year, locked it up with more than a week left to play.

To me, this year's Rockets team, and by the way, they're not that far off.

They're only a game back in the loss column of the Spurs and the Nuggets, who right now are basically tied for the two seeds, so it's all on the table.

But for me, Adam, this is a Rockets team where...

even if they win 50 games instead of, say, 56 or 57, and you look at the regular season and say, wow, there's a lot of stuff they left on the table, a lot of games they lost because guys were hurt, yada, yada.

If they get to mid-April and they're healthy and they have a 37-year-old Kevin Durant, the games are more spaced out, you get Steven Adams back, you have Fred Benfleet maybe back in limited capacity.

To me, this is the kind of team where all that matters is the playoffs.

As long as you get there, as long as you have a chance, then health and being in your peak form in April, that's what matters now.

As opposed to last year.

Last year was a team where because you were limited, you needed to maximize every last margin.

This year, maybe it's not that way.

Maybe you just get to the playoffs and maybe this is all for the best at the end of the day.

By the way, one other quick thing to close on, the standings tonight.

The Timberwolves lost in Utah, so the Rockets are up to the fourth seed.

The Lakers are down double digits in Denver, so the Rockets are getting some separation from the Timberwolves and the Lakers, and they're only a game back in the loss column of...