17. Houston Rockets
After getting off to a head-turning start to the season, the Houston Rockets have struggled a bit over the last couple of weeks. They've lost six of their last eight games and all of a sudden, the Rockets are very much looking like a team that might end up missing the postseason. Considering the moves that they made during the offseason, the playoffs are the goal for the season. Falling short of that would bring about big questions for this franchise moving forward.
If there's one area that the Rockets need to address this season, it's their lack of scoring punch off the bench. The Rockets' highest-scoring bench scorer is Tari Eason, and he's averaging just seven points per contest so far this season. That's not ideal for a team that is hoping to make a move up the Western Conference standings.
If that doesn't change, the Rockets are likely going to continue to fade down the standings and will ultimately fall out of even the Play-In Tournament picture. The Rockets' encouraging start to the season was certainly something to build on but the real work for the team starts now if they want to make a real push toward the playoffs.