Despite the recent NBA Cup loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Houston Rockets have had an impressive week. In fact, this whole season has been impressive for a team that went 41-41 last season.

The Rockets are now 17-9 and hold the third seed in the Western Conference. They sit a half-game back of the Memphis Grizzlies at the second seed and just 3.5 games back from the No. 1 seeded Thunder.

Houston has been improving at an incredible rate just under the last two seasons, thanks to player development from Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, and the rest of the young core, along with defensive-oriented coaching from Ime Udoka. Houston’s recent success has been acknowledged in NBA.com’s most recent power rankings, written by John Schuhmann.

Last week the Rockets ranked seventh in the NBA. This week, they get bumped up to No. 6 despite losing in the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday. What has carried Houston through the first 26 games is the defense.

“The Rockets were maybe fortunate to have Jalen Green sent to the line with a one-point deficit and 3.5 seconds left on Wednesday, but they also defended the Warriors’ ensuing inbounds play well,” Schuhmann wrote. “They seamlessly switched three straight back-screens and Jabari Smith Jr. reacted well to block Brandin Podziemski’s shot at the buzzer. Houston has won four of its last five games that were within five points in the last five minutes, having allowed just 47 points on 52 clutch possessions over that stretch.”

One thing Schuhmann noted was Houston’s shooting woes. Despite a talented defense, the Rockets rank 18th in offensive rating, posing a potential problem down the road.

“Shooting remains an issue,” Schuhmann wrote. “The Rockets are the only team that ranks in the bottom 10 in field goal percentage in the paint (53.6%, 25th), mid-range field-goal percentage (38.5%, 22nd) and 3-point percentage (32.2%, 28th). The two Cup games last week were the 18th and 19th times they shot worse than expected based on the quality of their shots, according to Second Spectrum tracking. That total (19 games) leads the league.”

The Rockets will play just two games this week. The first is at home against the struggling New Orleans Pelicans, while the other is a road game against the Toronto Raptors.

Want to join the discussion? Like Rockets on SI Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Rockets news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.