The Rockets got a real break on Friday when they won their draft pick tiebreaker with Golden State.
Via random drawings, the NBA broke seven ties on Friday between teams that completed the 2005-06 NBA regular season with identical records, including the Rockets-Warriors tie at the 8 and 9 positions.
This means that the only possible positions the Rockets could ultimately pick from would be 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 or 11. This also gives the Rockets one extra combination over Golden State for a chance at a top three pick. The Rockets have 23 "ping pong balls" out of the pool of 1000 while the Warriors get 22.
The other lottery tiebreakers made were between Charlotte and Atlanta for the 3rd and 4th spot (Charlotte won), Minnesota and Boston for the 6th spot (Minnesota won) and New Orleans and Philadelphia for the 12th and 13th spots (New Orleans won).
The NBA Draft Lottery will be held at halftime of a playoff game on May 23rd while the actual draft will be held on June 28th.
