NBA Standings 2017: Rockets, Warriors Stay Atop West, Spurs Lurking

With the calendar year coming to an end, the 2017 NBA Standings don’t look much different than they did 12 months ago. That’s especially true at the top of the Western Conference, where the Houston Rockets (25-4), Golden State Warriors (24-6) and San Antonio Spurs (21-10) remain a cut above everyone else.

The order in which they rank has changed, leaving questions regarding who might present the greatest challenge to the defending champion Warriors. San Antonio faced Golden State in last season’s conference finals, though they were swept before the Warriors went on to win their second title in three years. Houston has the NBA’s best overall record after 29 games, looking like an actual threat to reach the 2018 NBA Finals.

The Rockets cruised to another victory Monday night, defeating the Utah Jazz (14-17) 120-99. It extended the team’s winning streak to 14 games and kept them 1.5 games ahead of the Warriors for the conference’s No.1 seed. Golden State beat the Los Angeles Lakers (10-18) 116-114 in overtime Monday.

Chris Paul was one rebound shy of a triple-double against Utah, maintaining his perfect record with Houston. The Rockets are 15-0 when the point guard plays, including a win at Golden State in the season opener.

This could finally be the season that James Harden wins the NBA MVP award. After two second-place finishes in the last three years, Harden is having the best season of his career. He leads the league with 31.3 points per game, doing so on fewer than 21 shots per contest. His 9.0 assists per game put him third in the league, and he’s making a career-high 39.2 percent of his three-point attempts.

Trading for Paul George and Carmelo Anthony in the offseason has not helped the Oklahoma City Thunders’ (15-15) efforts to compete in the West. Pairing Paul with Harden, however, looks like it at least has the potential to prevent what seemed like an inevitable fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals for Golden State.

The move was needed for Houston to jump ahead of San Antonio, who defeated the Rockets in six games in the second-round of last year’s playoffs. The Spurs maintained their spot as the West’s No.3 seed Monday with a 109-91 win over the Los Angeles Clippers (11-18).

It’s easy to forget about the Spurs with how well the Rockets have played. San Antonio is quietly on pace to win 55 games, and just about all of their success has come without their best player. Kawhi Leonard has only played three games after missing the start of the year because of a leg injury, totaling just 49 minutes.

Once Leonard catches up with the rest of the team, San Antonio will be even more dangerous. The small forward averaged career highs of 25.5 points and 3.5 assists per game last season while playing stellar defense. He averaged 27.7 points on 52.5 percent shooting in the playoffs before an ankle injury in Game 1 of the conference finals ended his season.

The Rockets beat the Spurs in Houston 124-109 last week. Leonard scored 12 points in 17 minutes. Harden and Paul combined for 56 points, 14 assists and nine steals.

Golden State remains the overwhelming favorite in the West. They’ve won five straight games without the injured Stephen Curry, maintaining the NBA’s second-best record.

Curry and Kevin Durant both rank among the league’s top-five scorers. Klay Thompson is 20th with 20.7 points per game, and he’s shooting a career-high 49.3 percent from the field.

The Minnesota Timberwolves (18-13) are the West’s No.4 seed, trailing the Rockets by eight games. They are the only other team in the conference that’s more than two games over .500.