After making it all the way to the NBA Cup semifinals, the Houston Rockets have been rewarded with one of the top spots in NBA.com's latest power rankings.

The Rockets are 3-3 in December, but they’ve had a difficult schedule. Starting Thursday versus New Orleans, that will change over the next 10 games.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — It was midway through the third quarter of the Oklahoma City-Houston NBA Cup semifinal matchup on Saturday night. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had just made a short jumper in the lane and, to his delight, a time-out was immediately called. He needed it.