Finally, the Houston Rockets are finally back where they want to be.
The ultimate culmination of the franchise’s Meteor 2024-25 campaign came on April 2, as the Houston Rockets secured tickets in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Pushing a 143-105 wire-to-wire victory over the visiting Utah Jazz, they are back in competitive photography for the first time since 2020.
And for Jalen Green, it’s fitting that Ime Udoka have the flowers worthy of being the man behind the success of the team this year.
For the past few years, Rocket has been stuck in the league’s basement.
The franchise took a hard reset between 2021-22 when superstar James Harden demanded trade and was eventually moved to Brooklyn Net.
Not being able to acquire everything during the Harden era, Houston sought a bright future with a full-scale reconstruction. But starting from scratch wasn’t easy.
Under Stephen Cyrus’ leadership, Rocket was beyond horrifying. In the three seasons Silas was at the helm, they only scored a total of 59 regular season wins.
Despite parading promising cores consisting of Green, Alperencen Senggun and Jabarismith Jr., Rocket was unable to show any major advancements in the given stretch, urging the organization to tap Imedoka as his latest head coach before going out in 2023-24.
With Udoka, the Rockets have a 41-41 card last season, making them the 50-win team, currently the second club in the Western Conference.
His struggling guidance successfully injected the youthful team with confidence, maturity and victory mentality, pushing them to where they are today.
“We had talent, but (Udoka) was the snake leader,” Green said of Udoka after his victory over the Jazz.
“Just go in, take the dogs out of us, take that culture to us, and have the guys work hard.
“That first year (last season), he taught us all the lessons, and if you’re going to play hard, you’ll come out.
“It’s a habit that we had to break for two years by the young people on the worst team in the NBA.”
Participating in Houston is a kind of blessing for Udoka.
After leading the Boston Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals, the 47-year-old had a scandalous exit from the franchise.
Since he entered H Town, Udoka has been able to find the redemption and stability he needs. Now, he and Rocket are set to take off on their way to the playoffs and are set to go for the franchise’s potential title three.
“I feel he helped us a lot in that direction, but it’s just going up,” Green added regarding Udoka. “We’re continuing to grow and we’re taking that seriously now.”
Less than two weeks before the postseason officially begins, we can be excited to predict the promising Houston teams who will showcase their glow on the league’s brightest stage.