Rockets Welcome Morant, Grizzlies in Home Opener
Turning the Page. Ja-lloween. Beastly Weekend.
The Rockets return home for the first game of the season at the friendly confines of Toyota Center. Halloween comes early this year for the Rockets as they have a tough test for their first home tilt of the season, a matchup with Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies, one of the NBA’s best teams last season. Houston looks to take care of the ball more efficiently, and (somehow) contain the unstoppable Ja Morant. It’ll be interesting to see if Bruno Fernando once again draws the start over Alperen Sengun at Center. After his performance on Wednesday, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get the starting nod in tonight’s home opener. Jae’Sean Tate and Tyty Washington remain out with injuries for the Rockets. Daishen Nix is questionable. It will be a breath of fresh air when the squad can get Tate back on the court, as his energy and hustle is contagious to his teammates.
Besides Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. is coming into his own as a solid power forward in this league. His energy needs to be contained if the Rockets want any chance of pulling off the upset tonight. Look out for rookie Santi Aldama, the 30th pick in this past summer’s draft. After the preseason and only one game, Aldama could sneakily have an efficient game tonight if Houston doesn’t tighten up their interior defense. Stephen Adams will be manning the middle for Memphis. The grizzled veteran has been one of the league’s best role players for years, and expect his dominant presence to be one of the biggest problems facing the Rockets tonight besides Ja Morant, who many expect to be the league’s MVP this season. He has a legitimate shot. After starting the season against All-Stars Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, Houston’s faces superstar Ja Morant, one of the toughest defensive assignments in basketball. The Rockets will be tested tonight for sure. Hopefully returning home will give the squad a renewed sense of energy as they search for their first win of the season, and try and upset the Grizzlies.
Tonight is the first of a back-to-back for the Rockets, as they’ll travel to Milwaukee to battle the Greek Freak and the Bucks tomorrow night. A beastly weekend is in store for this young Houston squad. It’s still early in the season, the time of the year when contenders can be caught off guard. The Rockets have a great chance to steal one of these games, but it won’t be easy. Houston has a tough start to the season, as 7 of their next 10 games are against playoff teams from last year. It’s time to get loud Houston! The Astros have a travel day, so there’s no baseball tonight. Come out and support this young, exciting Rockets team. A group with a bright future ahead of them… just maybe not this weekend.
Toyota Center: Houston, Texas
Jersey Colors:
Memphis Grizzlies (1-0): Blue
Houston Rockets (0-1): Red
Tip-Off: 7:00 PM CT
TV: AT&T Sportsnet SW, NBA League Pass
Great writing – keep it going!
Thanks!