In the frantic rush to pin this season as a referendum upon the team’s decision to part ways with Trevor Ariza, what’s lost is that the Rockets have actually been even worse on offense than they have on defense. Through ten games, the Rockets have now sunk to 27th in offensive rating with the worst field goal percentage in the league. They are now 21st in defensive rating, a figure which actually represents an improvement. Another interesting note is that Houston fell all the way to 27th in pace this week after the return of James Harden.
The Rockets are just a bad team right now.