Who was in first place in the NBA's Western Division at the 2018 All Star break?

The Houston Rockets were in first place in the NBA’s Western Division at the 2018 All-Star break. More precisely, the NBA called it the Western Conference, and Houston led the standings during the 2017–18 season.

Houston reached the break with a 44–13 record, narrowly ahead of the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets were powered by James Harden’s scoring, Chris Paul’s playmaking, and Mike D’Antoni’s high-volume, three-point-focused offense. Their performance made them a serious challenger to Golden State’s recent dominance.

The wording can cause a small historical mix-up: the NBA used “Western Division” before reorganizing its league structure into conferences and divisions in 1970. In modern quiz usage, however, the intended meaning is clearly the Western Conference standings. Houston ultimately finished the regular season 65–17, the best record in the NBA, and earned the West’s No. 1 playoff seed.