HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Jabari Smith Jr could've already locked in his offseason plans when he returned from the All-Star Break last season.
Back then, the Rockets were 13-45, 15.5 games back of the Golden State Warriors for the West's final play-in spot, but as Smith and his teammates re-convened from the 2024 All-Star Break, they did so with lots to play for.
"It definitely feels different," Smith said Wednesday. "Feels more like a sense of urgency. It's time to compete, time to make that last push."
Smith and the Rockets will restart their season in New Orleans on Thursday with a 24-30 record, which has them 3.5 games out of 10th place in the West. They have dropped 18-of-27 after starting the season 15-12, which had them in eighth place on Christmas morning.
"We had a bit of a let down there," Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said. "We had some games that we felt we could've won and been in better position right now."
Basketball Reference gives the Rockets an 18.2 percent chance to finish inside the West's top 10, but the schedule coming out of the break is especially brutal. After visiting the sixth place Pelicans, the Rockets will play their next five games against Phoenix and Oklahoma City, who currently sit inside the top five in the conference.
"We'll have a chance," Udoka said. We'll have some obviously, playoff caliber teams that we're playing, but we also have some of the teams that are right in front of us as well with Utah and some of those other games, so it's up to us to get back to what we were doing."
The good news for the Rockets is that they are getting healthier. Fred VanVleet and Cam Whitmore practiced on Wednesday, and they will both play in New Orleans. VanVleet missed the last five games with a strained adductor, and the Rockets are 1-6 in the games he has missed this season. He thinks getting away from basketball for the last week did his team some good.
"Refreshed, ready to go," VanVleet said. "Understanding that the last month or so hasn't been our best basketball and looking forward to getting back and playing better and playing closer to our capabilities."
