Rockets Fly into Charlotte to Battle Hornets, Close Road Trip
Three Days. Question Marks. One Month.
Could there be a sweep in the cards for Houston tonight? The Rockets won’t sweep many, if any, season series this season, but Monday night presents that rare opportunity. Houston flies into Charlotte for a match with the Hornets after having three days off over the Christmas break. The Rockets will try and snap a three-game losing streak they carried into the break. Three days off came at an essential time for Houston, who saw the return of Jalen Green in their previous game after he missed a month due to a hamstring injury. The rest period also gave Kevin Porter Jr. more time to nurse back from his thigh injury as well. KPJ is expected to play tonight, while Green is considered questionable. It’s nice to get Scoot back in the lineup, and Green should be able to play, unless he suffered a setback in his return during Houston’s previous game.
Charlotte’s struggled since these teams first met, exactly one month ago. In the first matchup, the Rockets beat the Bees in an overtime-thriller, for their second of seven wins in a row. Houston’s improved greatly since the first matchup, and can they replicate what they did a month ago. However, the Rockets have been finally hit with COVID, as the NBA deals with a league-wide outbreak. Houston was one of the last teams to have any players in the health and safety protocols. Probably because the entire team is vaccinated. Regardless, Garrison Matthews and D.J. Augustin will miss tonight’s contest after being placed in the league’s health and safety protocols. Charlotte will be without P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges for the same reasons. The Hornets still have plenty of talent, with their own three-headed monster of sorts that includes LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, and Terry Rozier. If Houston can contain this trio, they should pull out the victory to close this stretch of road games.
Since the month these teams first met, the Hornets are 4-8, while the Rockets are 7-8. Although, Charlotte is coming off a road victory in Denver, while Houston has lost three straight games. Nonetheless, the Rockets have a great chance to close their five-game road trip with a victory in Charlotte tonight. Hopefully Scoot’s return boosts the squad, and if Green’s cleared to play, the Rockets should have enough talent to pull out the win. With the most rest the squad’s had all season, the question remains… will rust play a factor and prevent Houston from bringing out the brooms? We’ll find out soon enough.
Spectrum Center: Charlotte, North Carolina
Jersey Colors:
Houston Rockets (10-23): White
Charlotte Hornets (17-17): Blue “City Edition”
Tip-Off: 6 PM CT
TV: AT&T Sportsnet SW, NBA League Pass