The Houston Rockets have already proven they're ready to meet or surpass expectations this season. With a 9-3 record, the Rockets are third in the West -- and find themselves just two spots behind the top ranked Lakers and three spots ahead of Golden State.

With the Warriors seemingly without Steph Curry for a couple of weeks, and the Lakers possibly missing Austin Reaves for indefinite period (he's still being evaluated), the time is now for Houston to take control of the conference.

The Rockets already have a win over Golden State. They beat the Warriors Wednesday night - the game where Curry suffered the abdominal injury that will sideline him. They will face the Warriors again at the end of December.

But in their two upcoming matchups against Los Angeles, the Rockets could wind up facing a shorthanded Lakers team - not once but twice, depending on the length of Reaves's absence. And the Rocket's schedule leading up to that first game on November 30th is very manageable given how well Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun, Fred VanVleet and the rest of the squad are playing.

One snag: the Rockets will be without Marcus Smart, who was suspended Thursday for three games for punching reserve Warriors center Charles Bassey in Wednesday's win. He'll miss the games against Utah, Washington and the Miami Heat. But all three of those teams are currently under .500.

While the West has been much better than projections, continuing to dominate the East, Houston is positioned to create separation from some of the teams in that conference. Minnesota is missing Anthony Edwards for another month or more; Oklahoma City is without three of its top six players, including Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. And now, Curry and Reaves.

What these injuries mean for Houston is simple: things are in the Rocket's hands at the moment. The only team ahead of them is the second ranked San Antonio Spurs, who are on a 10-game win streak. And yet Houston has a win over the Spurs already, and has nearly kept pace.

Get Ahead Now

The timing of all this also puts pressure on Houston because of how difficult their schedule will be in the second half of the season. March will be a tall mountain to climb if the Rockets find themselves in a tight race for homecourt seeding in the first round of the playoffs.

Last season, Houston had its own ill-timed injuries.

So the time is now to build some cushion.