Rockets Begin Road Trip with Visit to OKC to Battle the Thunder
Monday Night Melee. First of Three. Part One.
Houston begins a three game road-trip in the toughest of locations, with a matchup at Paycom Center tonight, against the Oklahoma City Thunder for a Monday Night Melee. OKC has dominated the Western Conference all season, as they have roughly a ten game lead over second place. The Thunder enter this matchup winners of their last three games. The Rockets slouch into this contest coming off a bad home loss to a undermanned Sacramento Kings team. OKC has won two of the first three matchups over Houston this season, and can clinch the season series with a victory tonight. The Rockets lost to the Thunder in the NBA Cup Semifinals in Las Vegas in the previous matchups between these conference foes.
Tonight is also the first part of a three game road-trip for Houston, as well as the first half of a back-to-back. The Rockets will travel to Indianapolis tomorrow night for a matchup with the Pacers. After retaining hold of the second seed for a few weeks, Houston has slowly slipped in the standings all the way down to the fifth spot. If the Rockets continue losing, they’re in jeopardy of falling into a Play-In spot, which could dangerously end their season in Sudden Death fashion.
Houston had one of their best games of the season in their victory over OKC. However, in their two losses, the Rockets were no match for the Thunder, losing both contests in blowout fashion. Houston’s Head Coach Ime Udoka needs to have his squad prepared for a tough battle tonight, as the Rockets aim to stay in the chase for home-court advantage come playoff time in the Western Conference.
Given that this is the first of a back-to-back, Tari Eason and Steven Adams likely won’t play tomorrow night, so expect big energy performances from those two Rockets off the bench tonight. Fred VanVleet is looking for a bounce-back performance after a rusty performance in his first game back, last Saturday night. Houston has shown they can beat this juggernaut OKC team, but they have yet to do it this season at Paycom Center… it’s time for the Rockets to channel their inner toughness and grit if they want to finally beat the Thunder on the road.
Paycom Center: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Jersey Colors:
Houston Rockets (37-23): Black
Oklahoma City Thunder (49-11): White
Tip-Off: 7:00 PM CT
TV: NBA TV, Space City Home Network