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HOUSTON -- In a game with plenty of playoff implications for the visitors but none for the home team, the Rockets lost Sunday's regular-season finale to the Denver Nuggets, 126-111 (box score).
By winning, Denver (50-32) secured the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference standings and the upcoming 2025 playoffs. Houston (52-30) was already locked at No. 2.
With a loss, the Nuggets could have fallen as low as No. 7, which would mean having to go through the West play-in tournament to advance to the playoffs. Instead, Denver ended up securing both a direct playoff berth and home-court advantage in at least the first round.
Courtesy of the Rockets' public relations (PR) department, here's a look at postgame statistics of note after Sunday's game. These include numerous statistics pertinent to the 2024-25 regular season as a whole, now that it is complete.
Jabari Smith Jr. (left groin soreness) sat out Sunday's game for the Rockets, though Houston said it was a precautionary absence, and the third-year forward is expected to be available when the playoffs begin next weekend. Reserve forward Jae'Sean Tate (right ankle soreness) missed a second straight game with an injury considered "week to week", and his availability for the start of the playoffs is not yet clear.
The Rockets will begin their 2025 playoff run with a first-round series starting Saturday, April 19 or Sunday, April 20. The first and second meetings of that best-of-seven series versus the West's No. 7 seed will be played inside Houston's Toyota Center.
The No. 7 seed will be determined by Tuesday night's play-in game between the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies (both 48-34).
More: In second year with Houston, Ime Udoka could be in NBA’s 2025 Coach of the Year finalists
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: By the numbers: Rockets finish regular season at 52-30, No. 2 in West
Continue reading...
By winning, Denver (50-32) secured the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference standings and the upcoming 2025 playoffs. Houston (52-30) was already locked at No. 2.
With a loss, the Nuggets could have fallen as low as No. 7, which would mean having to go through the West play-in tournament to advance to the playoffs. Instead, Denver ended up securing both a direct playoff berth and home-court advantage in at least the first round.
Courtesy of the Rockets' public relations (PR) department, here's a look at postgame statistics of note after Sunday's game. These include numerous statistics pertinent to the 2024-25 regular season as a whole, now that it is complete.
- Houston finished the regular season at 52-30 mark after going 41-41 in 2023-24 and winning a total of 59 games over three seasons from 2020-21 through 2022-23. Denver picked up its 50th win of the season and has recorded 50+ in each of the past three seasons.
- Denver is 39-8 when scoring 120+ points this season and 11-24 when scoring below. Houston only allowed 120+ points 14 times this season after doing so 28 times in 2023-24.
- Houston was out-rebounded by two on Sunday, but the Rockets finished 2024-25 with league-best differential of +6.3 per game. Dating back to 1996-97, the Rockets became the third team to have out-rebounded their opponent by a total of at least 500 rebounds in a season. The other two teams (Memphis in 2021-22; Oklahoma City in 2015-16) also had Steven Adams.
- The Rockets had 16 offensive rebounds Sunday and averaged a league-high 14.6 this season. Houston finished the season with a total of 1,200 offensive boards, which was the second-most by any team in a season dating back to 1998-99 (Golden State had 1,284 in 2002-03).
- Houston had seven players with 50+ games played who averaged at least 12.0 points per game this season. The 1981-82 Milwaukee Bucks are the only other team in NBA history who had seven players average at least 12.0 points with 40+ games played.
- Jalen Green was one of six NBA players to have started all 82 games this season. He also started all 82 games in 2023-24. The last Rocket to have started all 82 games in consecutive seasons was Luis Scola in 2008-09 and 2009-10. Green became the seventh different Houston player to have recorded at least 1,700 points, 350 rebounds, and 250 assists in a season (Steve Francis once; James Harden seven times, Elvin Hayes once, Tracy McGrady twice, Hakeem Olajuwon four times, Rudy Tomjanovich once).
- Alperen Sengun finished the 2024-25 season as one of four players to have averaged at least 19.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists (joining Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, and Domantas Sabonis). He also became the fifth player who was 22 or younger for the majority of a season to have posted those averages in NBA history (joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Garnett, Oscar Robertson, and Sidney Wicks).
- Fred VanVleet had 333 assists and 94 steals with just 87 turnovers this season. He became the fourth player in NBA history to have recorded at least 300 assists and 90 steals with fewer than 90 turnovers in a season.
- Dillon Brooks averaged a career-high 2.5 3-pointers made on a career-best 39.7% shooting this season. He hit at least three 3-pointers 29 times this season after doing so 19 times in 2023-24.
- Amen Thompson averaged 14.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks this season after averaging 9.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.6 blocks as a rookie in 2023-24. The last player to have reached his totals of point, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks in a season was Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2017-18.
- Tari Eason averaged 12.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in 24.9 minutes per game. In NBA history, the only other player to have averaged at least 12.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.5 steals while playing fewer than 26.0 minutes per game was Jerome Kersey in 1986-87.
- Jabari Smith Jr. missed Sunday’s game. The Rockets were 16-2 when he scored at least 15 points this season and 12-13 in the games he missed. Smith is the first player in NBA history to have reached his totals of points, rebounds, blocks, and 3-pointers made through the first 212 games of a career.
- Steven Adams finished 2024-25 ranked second in the NBA in rebounds per 36 minutes played (14.8) among all players with at least 15 games played. He also averaged 7.5 offensive boards per 36 minutes played, which is the highest in NBA history for players with at least 40 games played in a season.
Sunday’s Postgame Interviews
Rockets Injury Updates
Jabari Smith Jr. (left groin soreness) sat out Sunday's game for the Rockets, though Houston said it was a precautionary absence, and the third-year forward is expected to be available when the playoffs begin next weekend. Reserve forward Jae'Sean Tate (right ankle soreness) missed a second straight game with an injury considered "week to week", and his availability for the start of the playoffs is not yet clear.
What’s Next
The Rockets will begin their 2025 playoff run with a first-round series starting Saturday, April 19 or Sunday, April 20. The first and second meetings of that best-of-seven series versus the West's No. 7 seed will be played inside Houston's Toyota Center.
The No. 7 seed will be determined by Tuesday night's play-in game between the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies (both 48-34).
2025 NBA Playoff Bracket, as of Sunday
More: In second year with Houston, Ime Udoka could be in NBA’s 2025 Coach of the Year finalists
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: By the numbers: Rockets finish regular season at 52-30, No. 2 in West
Continue reading...
