The Houston Rockets have the third best net rating in the NBA but questions remain about their defense. The Rockets, however, rank a respectable 16th in defense.

"I think most people thought [we'd rank] 30th, to be honest," Daryl Morey half-joked.

With Mike D'Antoni hired as head coach, the Rockets weren't expected to be this good on defense.

"Historically, some of the best coaches and the best teams had top defenses, [but] it's actually hard to disentangle cause and effect between the style of play that those teams play in, their personnel, and how likely they were to win the title," Morey told VICE Sports. "The most important thing is, are you creating a margin enough to be able to win the title? And historically you have to be somewhere around where we're at, which is like a six or more net margin. Obviously the higher the better, and Golden State has one of the best margins of all time. But we're right there with the Spurs. Us, Golden State, and the Spurs have the best indicators to be champions this year. We just all happen to be in the same conference."

"Sometimes we want to run before we get the ball," Rockets assistant coach and defensive coordinator Jeff Bzdelik told VICE Sports. "And so it's always a constant challenge. The defensive end is not the sexy part of the game."