Rockets Host Slumping Pacers to Begin Home-Stand
Home for the Holidays. Sluggish Horses. Rising Stars.
After a couple of days off over the Christmas break, the Rockets resume action on Tuesday night as they host the Indiana Pacers to begin a seven-game home-stand. This is Houston’s second seven-game home-stand of the season, tied for their longest of the season. The Rockets went 6-1 in their previous seven-game home-stand, igniting the longest winning streak at Toyota Center in five years. Houston won their previous match at home over Dallas on Friday, and the squad will look to string another home streak together starting tonight. Tuesday night’s game is the first of three games in four nights to close out the calendar year. The Rockets will aim to end 2023 with a bang, as they won’t hit the road again until next year, on January 8th.
The Indiana Pacers have been in a slump since losing in the In-Season Tournament Finale to the Lakers. The Pacers are 2-6 since that game, including losses in six of their past seven contests. And the two wins in that span came against two of the league’s bottom-feeders: the lowly Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons. Regardless, Indy is coached by Rick Carlisle, the man who led the Mavericks to a title last decade, and they have one of the NBA’s rising stars, in Tyrese Haliburton. Besides Haliburton, Myles Turner is their next best player, a force on the inside who will present another tough challenge for Houston’s own rising star, Alperen Sengun. Houston’s center is coming off the best game of his young career, a dominant 37-point performance that fueled the Rockets to victory in New Orleans over the Pelicans on Saturday night.
Besides featuring a couple of the league’s rising stars, this game is a battle of young teams looking to establish themselves in their respective conferences. Both teams currently hold the 8th spot in their conference, although they’ve been heading in opposite directions of late. As they aim for their third straight win, the Rockets will try to deal the Pacers their third consecutive loss. Besides Haliburton and Turner, Indy has a few perimeter threats Houston needs to be conscious of on the court. Buddy Hield is one of the league’s top three-point shooters, and is staring to find his stroke after a slow start to the campaign. Obi Toppin is in the midst of breakout season for the Pacers as part of their starting unit. Toppin has quietly been one of the league’s best role players this season. Rounding out the starting five for the Pacers is Andrew Nembhard, another young, under-the-radar player who’s having a breakout season in his sophomore year for Indiana. The Rockets have enough talent and discipline to beat this Pacers team. And Houston is still undefeated when donning their “Hometown Heroes” threads, which they will be wearing once again tonight. If they can prevent Haliburton for exploding for 35 or 40 points… the Rockets should be able to secure their third straight win to begin this home-stand.
Toyota Center: Houston, Texas
Jersey Colors:
Indiana Pacers (14-14): Yellow
Houston Rockets (15-12): “City Edition” White
Tip-Off: 7:00 PM CT
TV: Space City Home Network, NBA TV