10. Houston Rockets (33-23)
After a rocky start to the season, that was full of injuries and getting used to the rotation of new players, the Houston Rockets are looking more and more like the contender that many expected to see this season. Houston is 5th in the West, and just four games back of the third seed at the moment.
Should they make a move up the standings, it’s going to take a closer to perfect post All-Star break performance from all parties involved. And that’s not necessarily something that will be easy to pull off.
James Harden is still playing at an MVP level, but Chris Paul has struggled through injuries this season and isn’t exactly at the top of his game right now. They didn’t make any big moves at the trade deadline, but did add Iman Shumpert, who should give this team some much needed depth at the wing position.