The Houston Rockets started off the season 4-1 and while they have dropped two of the last three games, it's clear that the team is starting to play well together, as Jeremy Lin, Dwight Howard, James Harden and Chandler Parsons have looked like one of the best starting groups in the league early in the season.
When Dwight Howard was signed, many wondered how the Rockets offense would run and how well he could be able to work in it after the disaster that was the Lakers last season and now it appears that the offense should be fine with him in it. The biggest issue might be how the team uses Howard and Omer Asik, but that's for a different article on a different day. The team is now in second place in the division behind the San Antonio Spurs and they are coming off of a nice win in overtime against the Toronto Raptors that saw over 30 points from Jeremy Lin as well as an astonishing 24 rebounds for Howard, which is not the first time he has hit that mark this season. James Harden added 10 assists and those performances show exactly why the team is vibing well right now.
Howard has been a force in the middle like everyone thought he could be and Harden has been able to take advantage of the attention on Howard to score like he did last season and he is leading the team again with 24.9 points per game in the early goings. Harden is tops in assists and steals as well and with Lin playing well while starting in place of the injured Patrick Beverley, he may end up keeping the starting job after he returns as long as he keeps this level of play up and so far he has performed better on the court than he did last season.
Howard was very solid for the Rockets against the Raptors with 18 points and his 24 rebounds were huge as well and Lin ended up putting in 30 points off the bench and according to the AP, that's the first time someone did that for the Rockets since back in 2011. The Rockets are playing very well as a team and Lin was efficient in the game against the Raptors, scoring 31 points while hitting 10 of 17 shots and he also missed just one of nine from the free throw line. The team has a decent upcoming schedule, but games against the Knicks, Sixers and Nuggets shouldn't be too tough and they also have matchups with the Nets, Mavericks and the Spurs before the month is over.
The team is playing very well offensively and is ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring with over 105 points per game and they are also first in rebounding with the help of Mr. Howard. The team is ranked 25th in assists and defense by points per game, but that likely will improve as the season wears on.
