7 reasons the Rockets are the NBA’s team to beat and 1 big reason they’re not

After pulling out a last-second win over the Celtics on Saturday night, the Rockets are sitting on top of the NBA. They’ve won 15 straight games, which comes on top of a 14-game streak earlier this season. They have one of the top two offenses in the league, a top-10 defense, and the presumptive Most Valuable Player on their roster.

The Rockets’ resume is legit. But are they the team to beat? Let’s take this point by point.

Harden has been the wire-to-wire favorite and he’s only improved his case as the season has rolled along. Having the MVP on your team doesn’t guarantee postseason success, but it’s practically impossible to win a championship without a top-5 player. Harden clearly qualifies.

You may recall that he was more or less in this same position at this same point last season before he started to break down physically in the stretch run. That’s less likely now that Chris Paul is around.

It was fair to wonder if the CP3-Harden combo would have adjustment problems. We are talking about two headstrong, ball-dominant players, after all. But the arrangement has worked out wondrously and both players deserve credit for making this transition so seamless.

You can also tip your cap to coach Mike D’Antoni, who split up their minutes so each can run the team to their heart’s content in various matchup configurations. As of March 6, the two have played two-and-a-half times as many minutes apart (1,820) as together (725), according to NBAWowy.com. It’s weird that more teams with two scoring stars don’t do this more often, but the most brilliant adjustments are often the most obvious.

Harden and Paul are dynamite together, but the real value of having both of them is the flexibility they offer. Having a superstar lead guard on the court all the time gives D’Antoni endless possibilities, and the Rockets are stocked with versatile role players.

Daryl Morey knows how to build teams. Morey is known for his Quixotic pursuit of superstars, but he also has an underrated knack for finding versatile role players. Constructing this team is his signature accomplishment.

Just look at the talent on hand. Eric Gordon is a Sixth Man supreme, Clint Capela, is a rim-running, shot-blocking monster, and Trevor Ariza is the living definition of a 3-and-D star. Gordon and Ariza were affordable free agent signings, while Capela was a late first rounder.

Beyond the core players, P.J. Tucker, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and Nene bring the requisite veteran toughness and moxie. Say what you will about Ryan Anderson’s lack of defense -- and it will probably limit his effectiveness in the postseason -- but his elite shooting range is a key component of their offense.

Throw in the bucket-getting prowess of Joe Johnson and Gerald Green, who were picked off the waiver wire, and this is an ingeniously constructed team with depth for days.

The Rockets beat good teams. One of the hallmarks of their 15-game winning streak is an ability to beat the league’s best. Ten of those wins have come against teams with winning records and more than half of them have come on the road.

None of this is an aberration. The Rockets are almost as good on the road as they are at home. They beat up on the East and have a 30-8 record against teams from the West. (As a point of comparison, Golden State has lost 11 games against Western Conference foes.)

To put it another way, there is nothing inflated about Houston’s record. Everything about the Rockets is legit, including the defense.

Historically, you need both a top-10 offense and defense to compete for a title. The Rockets are a tick behind of Golden State in points scored per 100 possessions and essentially tied with Portland for seventh in points allowed per 100 possessions, per NBA.com.

Defensive deficiencies have been the most glaring point of contention the last few years when assessing Houston’s’ championship credentials. You can’t win in the playoffs without a defense that can get stops when it counts. Houston’s defense is not as stout as some, but it’s plenty good enough to reach the conference finals.

The scheme is solid, but what makes Houston especially convincing is the surplus of versatile defenders throughout the lineup. They can play big or small, and there’s always enough shooting on the floor.

That offense is really something. If it wasn’t for the Warriors’ dominance, Houston’s offensive evolution would have been the most important development of the last few years. It may very well be anyway. Only Golden State can have four stars in their prime, but everyone can space the floor and play as efficiently as possible.

The Rockets have provided the model for offensive play in this era and there’s an argument to be made that no one has ever done it better than Houston. Do not concern yourself with the tired old trope about jump-shooting teams in the playoffs. The Warriors, Cavs, and Spurs have all torn that faulty logic apart in recent years.

Their tortured history is relevant, but only to a point. Everyone knows that Harden and Paul have melted down in the playoffs, probably from sheer exhaustion as much as anything. Everyone also knows that D’Antoni has never coached a team that made the Finals, for many of the same reasons.

Riding one ball-dominant guard is obviously difficult during the postseason. Now we’ll find out if two is the correct number. The burden of history is a thing only if they let it become a thing.

With very few exceptions, that also applies to just about every other coach and superstar in the league. Is Paul any more cursed than Russell Westbrook? Is D’Antoni’s postseason track record really that much different than Tom Thibodeau’s?

Take away Golden State and Cleveland, and every team has questions about how far its core can take them this spring. There’s nothing anyone can do about that until the playoffs starts. While it makes for a fun conversation piece, it really doesn’t have anything to do with the 2018 season.

The real reason I’m not totally sold on Houston is that the Warriors exist. In any other context, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Of course the Rockets are legit contenders. The real question is whether they can deal with with Golden State in a seven-game series.

The Rockets have taken two out of three from Golden State this season, but regular-season results aren’t always the best predictor in the postseason. Given a choice at this point in the season, I’m rolling with the Warriors, but I reserve the right to change my mind in May.

The very fact that it’s a legitimate debate is an accomplishment that should not be taken lightly. The Rockets are that good.