On March 1, the thought of the Houston Rockets challenging the Golden State Warriors for the Western Conference's final play-in tournament spot seemed laughable. The Warriors were seven games ahead of the Rockets, who then sat 12th in the standings.
Few could have predicted the Rockets, who went an NBA-best 13-2 last month, would become one the league's hottest teams.
The Rockets' deficit remains three games heading into Thursday's virtual must-win home showdown against the Warriors. But while Houston's playoff hopes are slim -- simulations based on ESPN's Basketball Power Index (BPI) show the Rockets reaching 10th just 1.5% of the time -- we could be watching the origin story of the NBA's next young contender.
Whether or not it translates into postseason play this season, Houston's late-season surge looks like a preview of what's to come in the West, where the conference's aging powers are only narrowly holding off the rising teams below them in the standings.
What can we take from the Rockets' strong finish? How crowded might the West postseason race be a year from now? Let's take a look.