Rockets clinch Southwest Division title

Not that it means a lot these days, but the Houston Rockets clinched the Southwest Division title last night with the San Antonio Spurs losing to the Sacramento Kings. This is the second straight year they’ve won the division.

The Rockets currently stand at 49-28, a full five games ahead of the Spurs, who are now at 44-33, with five games remaining in the regular season and Houston holding the tiebreak.

This marks the seventh overall division title in team history, as the Rockets also won in 1977, 1986, 1993, 1994, 2015, and 2018.

It’s just a small footnote in another great season for Houston, and the team doesn’t even hang a banner for this accomplishment. Years ago, they did away with the Division Championship banners and now simply combine them all into one banner with an updated year whenever they win it.

Divisions are pretty much just for scheduling purposes, and the more important number is the conference playoff seeding, which the Rockets currently stand in third. They’re right now a half game ahead of the fourth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers and 2.5 games back of the Denver Nuggets for the second seed.

If the playoffs started today, they’d be matched up against the Los Angeles Clippers in a third-seed vs. six-seed series. Fall to the fourth seed, and they’ll likely be matched up with the Utah Jazz in round one.

Anyway, congrats to the 2019 Rockets for adding another division title to the team’s coffers, but we all know what we’re all really looking for is a third NBA championship banner.