Despite continuing to deal with injuries, the Houston Rockets have begun to hit their stride in recent weeks, mainly due to more focus defensively.

After suffering a five-game losing streak in the final weeks of December and dealing with injuries to their best players, the Houston Rockets have begun to hit their stride in recent weeks, even as the team continues to deal with injuries and a short-handed rotation.

Houston lost five straight games from Dec. 18-29, only to have James Harden go down with a hamstring injury in their New Year’s Eve win. The Rockets then proceeded to go 4-3 without Harden before they finally began to get healthy in the middle of January.

Since Harden has returned, the Rockets are 8-1 and have beaten the likes of the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Cleveland Cavaliers. In fact, during that stretch, Houston has the best net rating in the league at +11.1, due to their second-ranked offense and fifth-ranked defense.

Now, most of this is caused by James Harden, who has been sensational since returning from his injury. While it took him a game or two to knock off the rust, he has been back at his MVP level recently. In his past five games, Harden is averaging 30.8 points, 10.0 assists, 6.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game — and those numbers are without him hitting his 3-pointers at his season rate (just 26.3 percent over the last five games).

Of course, this recent stretch of games is highlighted by Harden’s 60-point triple-double, an incredibly impressive feat considering the Rockets were without Chris Paul, Trevor Ariza and Eric Gordon (who left the game in the first 10 minutes). Harden willed the Rockets to a win and hit some incredibly tough shots down the stretch of the fourth quarter:

It hasn’t only been Harden playing well while the Rockets have been cruising. Chris Paul has been the perfect sidekick, taking over games when necessary. Ryan Anderson has regained his shooting stroke (he’s hit 48 percent of his 3-pointers in the last five games), and Luc Mbah a Moute continues to provide undervalued defense on a nightly basis.

The most ironic part of the Rockets’ recent run is that the team still isn’t healthy. Trevor Ariza went down in the first minute of the Rockets’ win against the Phoenix Suns more than a week ago and hasn’t played since, while Eric Gordon hasn’t played since leaving the team’s game against the Orlando Magic last Tuesday with back issues.

Luckily for Houston, both are expected back within the next week or so, and hopefully things can stay that way and the Rockets can enter the All-Star break on a high note.

For the season, the Rockets are now up to first in the league offensively and eighth defensively, per Cleaning The Glass (which excludes garbage time statistics). Their net rating of 8.9 is just 0.2 points per 100 possessions less than the Warriors, and Houston now finds itself just two games back for the No. 1 seed.

While rest and strategic minutes distribution is crucial for the Rockets down the stretch of the regular season, if the team continues to play this well and can stay healthy for more than one week at a time, it has a chance to grab that 1-seed, which would be crucial for a potential playoff matchup with the Warriors.

Regardless, the Rockets must focus on maintaining this level of play and getting their key players healthy. A favorable schedule ahead of the All-Star break can allow Houston to continue hitting its stride and making a statement around the league.