Rockets Face Clippers in Sunday Matinee Matchup
Early Birds. Missing Weapons. Final Chance.
Houston travels to Los Angeles, for a weekend back-to-back against the L.A. teams this weekend. First, the Rockets take on the Clippers Sunday afternoon, in what will be the final time Houston faces off against Paul George and the Clips this season. The Rockets will then play LeBron James and the Lakers for the first time this season on Monday night. Houston enters Sunday’s game with the Clippers on a 9-game losing streak. The Rockets have lost 14 of their last 15 games overall, as the squad’s really hit the “Dog Days” of the NBA season, albeit earlier than most teams in the league. Houston has the NBA’s worst record, at 10-32, and have all but guaranteed a spot in the NBA’s draft lottery this summer. The Rockets are now playing for pride. They won’t win many games, but should aim to at least top the 20-victory mark. The last time they won, Houston wore black. The Rockets will be sporting the black jerseys this afternoon, so maybe a little wardrobe magic help the squad break the skid.
On Sunday afternoon, Houston will be playing as shorthanded as they’ve ever been the squad in the Jalen Green Era. During Friday night’s Sacramento Scuffle, mainly between Garrison Mathews and Malik Monk, Jalen Green and Jae’Sean Tate did temporarily leave the bench, as they were not in the game at the time. Under the NBA rules, that is a suspension, and both players miss Sunday’s game for Houston. The Rockets are still without Kevin Porter Jr. as well, who suffered a left knee contusion early Wednesday night in Sacramento. KPJ is listed as day-to-day on the injury report, but the Rockets won’t have him for sure on Sunday afternoon. Expect to see an interesting array of Houston rotations, as Stephen Silas is playing with a shortened deck against Tye Lue’s Clippers. Los Angeles limps into this game without Paul George, and in a funk themselves. The Clips are 1-7 in their last 8 games. L.A. went 7-2 in the previous 9 games before their struggles started. Sunday’s matchup is a battle between two shorthanded and slumping squads.
This is the Rockets’ final chance to beat the Clips this season. Houston is 0-3 against Los Angeles so far this season. The first matchup was a heartbreaking loss in L.A., as the Rockets collapsed late to lose by only two points. The two games in Houston were both essentially dominated by the Clippers. The Rockets will look to flip that trend in their final chance to take down the Clips. Houston is extremely shorthanded, but L.A. will be without Paul George for the firth straight game. This is the first time the Rockets will get a glimpse of the creator of Load Management himself, Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi missed Houston’s first three games due to injury, rest, or load management. It’s hard to tell with Leonard. Since winning the title with Toronto back in 2019, Kawhi’s missed more games than he’s played, and the Clippers haven’t been the title contender many expended when he came to town. For Sunday’s game, the shorthanded Rockets will have to hope their reservists step up and everyone plays the game of their life, if they want any chance to upset the Clippers in the final matchup this season.
Crypto.com Arena: Los Angeles, California
Jersey Colors:
Houston Rockets (10-32): Black
Los Angeles Clippers (22-22): White
Tip-Off: 2:00 PM CT
TV: AT&T Sportsnet SW, NBA League Pass