This proves the Rockets are BUILT DIFFERENT...

This is huge for Houston Rockets fans and what was a historic night against the Utah Jazz. The Houston Rockets have officially qualified for the NBA playoffs in the 2024-2025 season. This is big. This has got everyone talking and is further proof as to why the Houston Rockets are legitimate contenders for the NBA championship this season. Hello everybody, I am Donovan Raffondo. I am your host for Rockets Digest where we break down all the latest news, rumors, and updates regarding your H-Town team. And there is some excitement in the room today because for the first time in five years, the Houston Rockets are going to the NBA playoffs. This was done last night after a dominant, dominant win against the Utah Jazz, 143-105 there in Houston, Texas. And the Rockets played an outstanding game last night. After that second quarter, it really was not close. They were up plus 20. This was an astounding win, and they have proven that they are one of the more dominant teams in this league. I want to take a look at the stats from last night as you can see there was contributions everywhere every player that was active for the game got into this game that those are some of the best games you're gonna play uh in the NBA when you're fortunate fortunate enough to do all of that they proved yesterday that everyone was on game was on point even Reed Sheppard getting some minutes at the end they're knocking down five threes and we'll get to him in just a second but look at that look at those stats from our guys Dylan Brooks scoring 21 points last night uh one short of Jalen Green's 22 you got Alperen Sengun scoring 15 as well everyone on the bench contributing at you know playing 10 plus minutes except for those bottom two Reed Sheppard and Nate Williams but everyone was really making contributions to this dominant win again And by the second quarter, it was already out of game for the Utah Jazz. We shut them down very quick, giving our guys, our starters, some valuable rest as we head into this last stretch of games against some very good, high-caliber playoff teams. And so it's going to be a rough patch to end the season. But this was all joy coming from last night. once again the Rockets officially clinching playoffs this season and all this is due to not only yes the players yes you know GM Rafael Stone but also the head coach Ime Udoka who has done a fantastic job with these group of guys all year you know in just his second year as head coach the team has proven that he's one of the best coaches not only in the NBA but one that we have seen in the NBA for quite some while for quite some time considering the turnaround this franchise has had the past two years and i want to go to what he said in his press conference last night he said it feels good to be back in the playoffs i'm sure for the guys that never have been there it's an accomplishment but it was our expectation this year building off of last year i don't think anybody's overly excited now it's about maintaining that and that's more of the focus now I love this by coach Ime Udoka I think it is a good insight into what his headspace said he's not you know this was in fact the expectation you know last year you you end the season with 41 go 41 and 41 this year you go in I like the confidence of which he speaks of that 50 was was the benchmark already we wanted 50 this was something that all year we wanted to make the playoffs and so this is just simply checking off something off of the off of the list you know this is something that they have planned for all year and you know despite you know losing streaks uh two months ago and some rough patches with injuries they were able to overcome all those obstacles and get the job done uh making the playoffs this season and so that is a great mindset for your coach to have and i want to go a little bit further on him and the team reaching 50 wins on the season he said last night he said that that should be the minimum like i said guys aren't really excited about that or making the playoffs and we know we have more work to do 50 is a good barometer of where you should be at a yearly basis on a minimum fantastic it's fantastic i i cannot ask for more for a head coach this is a head coach that you know knows what he's doing and this is simply the standard of which the Houston Rockets should be on they know that every year in order to be a team that is good enough to compete that that 50 wins mark is what they have to be at that's that's how they measure themselves if you can get to 50 then you know that you can compete with those top teams in the NBA like the Oklahoma City Thunder like the Cleveland Cavaliers like the Boston Celtics and I I really appreciate this from our head coach and you know these quotes and his mentality it kind of just best explains how successful we've been the translation of all these things has has accumulated to the point of which we are in right now which is a playoff caliber team and so with that I want to go into a little bit more about you know the the rebuild situation you know some have reported that this the rebuild of the Houston Rockets is officially you know complete we're back into the groove and there is a lot of truth to that i mean as you can see from our past five years the last time we made the playoffs was in 2019 2020 in the NBA bubble losing in the Western Conference Semifinals since then you know it's not been great defense has been killer for the Houston Rockets since the NBA bubble resulting in this team not winning a lot of games you see 17 20 22 and then last year a huge increase with 41 after signing coach Ime Udoka so it hasn't been pretty but this this organization this front office made waves the entire year with or with the entire past few years rather of drafting some of the best guys they could have possibly drafted kudos to our front office for getting us in this position in the first place and it all started with you know drafting guys like Jalen Green second overall in the 2021 draft and then the very next year you get uh Alperen Sengun 16th overall that same year with Jalen Green excuse me you get uh Alperen Sengun 2021 draft via OKC and then the next year You get Tari Eason, 17th overall, and you get Jabari Smith Jr. with a third overall pick. You know, Amen Thompson, fourth overall in 2023. Like, you are drafting high-caliber guys that have proven since their time on the Rockets that they can be some of the best NBA players in the league. A lot of these guys can be starters on other teams. We know Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green and Amen Thompson could very well easily fit in starting lineups everywhere else. Of course, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason as well, you know, coming in and out of the starting lineup this season. But these are all guys that have developed. They have developed under the Houston Rockets organization. And with the hiring of Udoka, that has never been more clear. 41 wins in your first season with these group of guys. A group of guys that not many, you know, not many were, you know, too excited about coming off of it. I mean, I know Jalen Green was the second overall pick, and Jalen Green was really highly touted, but no one really expected the Rockets to be in this position. But here they are. They are now in the playoffs. Currently a second seed in those playoffs. And so that is just much kudos to the front office for putting us in this position and Coach Ime Udoka helping us get there. and that's one of I just want to bring up I mentioned Reed Sheppard earlier I do want to just bring up you know he did have five three-pointers last night uh the crowd was going nuts and Udoka had this to say on Reed Sheppard who we drafted last year third overall he said all of these things are to build off of and all those minutes no matter what the score anytime you get in those are valuable for a young guy you want guys to take advantage and take those situations seriously. Good to see him knock them down and something to kind of spring forward going forward. And I love this from Coach Ime Udoka. Obviously, this is a guy that has been struggling a lot. And for him to go to the G League and do well over there and come over here, knock down five three-pointers in, I think it was nine minutes, it's fantastic. It was absolutely fantastic for Reed Sheppard to get his groove going as we head into the playoffs. You never know when you might meet a guy. And so, very, very good. Kudos to Reed Sheppard. I know he's been getting bogged down a lot, but good for him. I'm very glad. And so, yes, we are officially playoff bound. And I just want to end this video with something that Dylan Brooks said last night post-game after their win against Utah Jazz. To kind of give you guys a little bit of insight of where this team is at currently. He gave this quote last night. He said, we're playing against playoff This is in reference to the rest of the teams that are playing for the season. He said, we're playing against playoff teams, so it would be great chances to test where we're at and play our hearts out so we can end the year on a high note. And of course, this is something that we have talked a lot on Rockets Digest between me and Jason's videos. These last stretch of games are so, so important. These are essentially games that test where you are in relation to these other teams. To talk about 50 wins being a barometer for the Houston Rockets of four years to come. These next few games we have ending our season is going to be a barometer to how the Houston Rockets might fare in the Western Conference playoffs, especially in that first round. And so with that, thank you guys so much for joining me. Let me know what you think about the Rockets clinching the playoffs this season, reaching 50 wins for the first time since the 2018-2019 season. and so let me know in the comments what you think make sure if you have not already if you've made it to the end of the video make sure to hit that subscribe button we're so happy that you joined us and we see you guys next time on Rockets Digest