After the Rockets first meeting with the Oklahoma City Thunder, they were 23rd in defensive rating and would slide to 28th heading into December. When they hit the practice floor on Wednesday to prepare for the Thunder, one game into January, they were up to 15th.
They have ranked fourth in defensive rating since the start of December, despite injuries taking Pat Beverley out of three of the past four games and Clint Capela taking him out of the past eight games.
"We're better," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We haven't played a whole lot of games with Clint and Patrick together and that's pretty fundamental for your defense, your one and your five.