Oct 7, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) smiles after committing a foul against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
12. Houston Rockets – 47.5
Prediction: Under
Other than their starting 5 (presuming it’s Beverley-Harden-Ariza-Jones-Howard), the players on the Rockets current roster appear a bit underwhelming when compared to their previous one.
No longer do they have the luxury of designating Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik to reserve roles, and will instead be forced to rely on average players at best to make up for their second unit’s previous production.
One move that really hurt this team though was replacing Chandler Parsons with Trevor Ariza, who’s a capable wing, but lacks the offensive firepower that Parsons brought to this team last season.
This is exactly why I’m projecting Houston to take a step back this year and finish as one of the lower seeds in the competitive Western Conference, since they’re clearly not as talented and missing the 3rd star they so desperately need.