Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni has achieved the best record in the NBA this season with 65-16. This is the first time one of his teams has achieved the best record in the league since he led the Phoenix Suns to a league-best 62-20 regular-season record in 2004-05.

However, that Suns team was eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs that year in the Western Conference Finals and never lived up to the expectation of them, and many believe the Rockets could follow the same fate if they are not careful.

In fact, a lot of people are judging the Rockets' season by whether or not they end the playoffs as the champions, but D'Antoni believes this is unfair. If Houston falls short, their franchise-record-setting season, and a potential MVP campaign by James Harden, shouldn't be diminished.

He said to ESPN: "I read something the other day [that said] sure James Harden should be the MVP, sure Chris Paul and James have been great, sure they set a franchise record [for wins by] about six games' worth, but they'll ultimately be judged by if they win a championship or not. Really? It doesn't diminish what these guys have done.

"So how I celebrate is I enjoy every freaking day I go into the locker room with these guys and go on the court and all the games we've won and all the trips we've made back from games on the road back [as] winners, that's what's enjoyable. Now obviously, we would love to celebrate it with a championship, everybody would.

"But it doesn't diminish Steve Nash and how good he was for three or four years [with the Suns] in this league. I just don't buy into that. I don't buy it is all about the rings because there are a lot of guys that got rings that can't play a lick. They happened to be on the bench with some great players, so I don't buy into that totally."

D'Antoni and the Rockets shouldn't be judged by their ability to win a championship this season, but considering they're in the best position to do so out of all the teams in the league, it will certainly be looked at as a big missed opportunity if they fail to end the playoffs with the Larry O'Brien trophy.

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