In terms of this season's dark horse teams, the East is Cleveland, and the West is the Houston Rockets. In fact, after the first 37 games, they achieved a record of 33 wins and 4 losses, and are currently on a 12-game winning streak. Judging from the current momentum, they seem invincible. Additionally, in the Eastern Conference standings, Cleveland firmly occupies the top spot, six games ahead of the Celtics. Considering Cleveland's strength this season, these six games represent a significant gap. In other words, the rest of the Eastern Conference teams are essentially competing for second place this season, as first has already been reserved by Cleveland. In fact, no one expected at the beginning of the season that Cleveland would perform so aggressively and achieve such results.
As for the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets are the biggest dark horse team. After finishing their first 37 games, they have a record of 25 wins and 12 losses. Although not as dazzling as Cleveland, considering that the Rockets were in rebuilding mode in previous seasons, their rise to second place in the West this season has successfully placed them among the top-tier strong teams. Moreover, it's important to note that the Rockets have solidly maintained their position in second place in the West because they defeated their main opponent, the Grizzlies. Therefore, when everyone sees the Rockets' game state and the results they've achieved, it's undeniable that their years of rebuilding have finally shown hope, even though there are still some issues with the team, at least they've managed to reach this position.
Since entering January, the Rockets' win rate has also been relatively high, winning four out of five games, with a win rate of 80%. It's worth noting that the four games the Rockets won were against the Mavericks, Lakers, Wizards, and Grizzlies. Among these teams, only the Wizards are considered to be tanking. In other words, the quality of the Rockets' victories in January is quite high. Additionally, the reason the Rockets maintained such a high win rate in January is mainly due to Green's scoring mode. They lost to the Celtics, but Green scored 27 points. Against the Lakers, Green scored 33 points, against the Wizards he scored 29 points, and against the Grizzlies he scored 27 points, all demonstrating remarkable bravery.
With scores of 33+29+27+27 since January, Green has indeed proven himself to be a scoring genius. Those who regularly watch the Rockets' games know that Green has a characteristic: after playing a good game, he tends to go quiet for a few matches. However, in January, Green did not follow this pattern, maintaining a shooting percentage above 45% in the last four games, and even reaching over 50% in two games. Additionally, he has scored more than 20 points in five consecutive games, something he only accomplished at the start of the season. Seeing Green play so efficiently, the Rockets have successfully waited for him. What the Rockets want is a Green who can maintain efficient shooting and step up to score in critical moments. This was the model that everyone initially envisioned for him.
With Green able to consistently score and perform, the Rockets don't need to consider trading, as they already have the strongest scorer on their roster. The Rockets' biggest issue this season is that when facing teams with a bit of strength, once they take the lead, they tend to lose their composure and allow their opponents to catch up. They win if they can hold on in the crucial moments, and lose if they can't. The recent games against the Grizzlies and Lakers are the best examples; both times they were leading by a large margin before being caught up, ultimately eking out narrow victories. Overall, the Rockets have made a push this season, even without opening the championship window period.