The Rockets finally return to Toyota Center to take on the Brooklyn Nets
According to Team Rankings, the Houston Rockets have been at a rest disadvantage 13 times already this season. Tonight against the Brooklyn Nets marks game number 14. Only the Denver Nuggets (17 games) have had more. After a four-game road trip (that was originally three games but was adjusted due to the postponed Atlanta game), the Rockets play at home tonight before heading out for another four-game road trip. Once that concludes, Houston will play 18 of their final 31 games at Toyota Center.
The Nets are 15-33 and are in 13th place in the Eastern Conference. If the NBA Draft Lottery were today, they would have the fifth-best odds at the number one overall pick. And Brooklyn understands the assignment. Most teams wait until after the All-Star break to fully commit to the tank. You know, the “Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got a bad haircut so he’s out for the rest of the season” thing that Oklahoma City did when they were tanking. But the Nets got a head start by trading two of their most productive players in Dennis Schroeder (to Golden State) and Dorian Finney-Smith (to the Los Angeles Lakers).
The Nets traded for D’Angelo Russell, who is probably good enough to win them some games, so he might see a phantom injury in the next few weeks. Cam Thomas and Cameron Johnson (both out tonight) are also on the trade block as Brooklyn looks to dump all of their player assets and accumulate as many draft picks as possible.
Which brings us to the point I want to make: I don’t think I’m ever going to root harder for a team not to win the lottery than I will with Brooklyn this year. It’s not that I’m convinced Cooper Flagg is going to be amazing (I haven’t done a deep dive yet), but that I’m already bracing for the Nets winning the lottery and hearing “Why did Rafael Stone trade those picks away? We could have had Flagg!” That’s not how it works. Brooklyn is tanking because the Rockets traded them their picks back. If Houston had kept the picks, the Nets would have no reason to tank and would probably have chased a play-in spot. Even now, with the Nets trying to lose, they’re only five games out of the 10 spot. That’s roughly good for the 11th-best odds in the lottery. I know that most of our readers understand the difference, but NBA fans generally don’t grasp nuance.
So anyway, I might be the only Rockets fan not upset if Houston finds a way to lose this game and hurt Brooklyn chances at the top pick. Tar and feather me in the comments if you wish.
We’ll be in the Playback room tonight, so you should come join to watch the Rockets and talk about the game. Remember, we get a handful of VIP passes that we give out to anyone who wants to watch the game. No League Pass necessary!
Tip-off
7pm CT
How To Watch
Space City Home Network and Playback
Injury Report
Rockets
Jabari Smith Jr.: OUT
Alperen Senugn: GTD
Nets
Cam Thomas: OUT
Cameron Johnson: OUT
Day’ron Sharpe: OUT
Bojan Bogdanovic: OUT
Noah Clowney: OUT
The Line (as of this post)
N/A
Check here for updates
Looking ahead because we can
Monday night in New York against the New York Knicks
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