Can the Rockets win their eighth straight game?
A running joke in the Playback room that Xiane and I have is that every achievement that this season’s Houston Rockets have earned is the first time it has happened “since The Bubble.”
For example, last year’s squad achieved a high point four games above .500 when they hit 13-9. They never hit that point again and clawed back to 41-41 at the end of the season. So as soon as Houston went to five games over .500 (and every number above it), I’ve pointed out that “This is the first time Houston has been X games above .500 since The Bubble.”
That Bubble squad certainly was a weird one, and the pandemic itself threw a lot into disarray. But on paper, that team was still better than this current iteration of the Rockets. That team featured James Harden at the end of his prime; Russell Westbrook still capable of triple doubles every night; Eric Gordon as the third scorer; P.J. Tucker and Robert Covington as key 3-and-D guys; and Danuel House Jr., Austin Rivers, and some dude named Jeff Green capable of scoring and making big plays.
Of course the season was cut short, but that team’s high water mark was 19 games above .500, which is the same number as the current Rockets.
So tonight, the Houston Rockets can go to 20 games above .500, which would be the first time since the 2018-19 season. That was Chris Paul’s second year in Houston. That team was 43-26 after 69 games, a full game behind tonight’s team.
Yes, the Rockets will be underdogs in any playoff (or play-in) series they play. They’re young and inexperienced. But Rockets fans have been through a lot of difficult times over the past six years. And tonight’s game against the Orlando Magic gives the Rockets a yardstick opportunity for fans to put those dark times firmly in the rearview mirror.
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
6pm CT
How To Watch
Space City Home Network and Playback
Injury Report
Rockets
Reed Sheppard: OUT
Amen Thompson: OUT
Magic
Cole Anthony: GTD
Jalen Suggs: OUT
Mo Wagner: OUT
The Line (as of this post)
N/A
Check here for updates
Looking ahead because we can
Friday night in Miami against the Miami Heat
new Playback.Embed(“playback-embed”, {
room: “thedreamshake”,
style: { height: “100%”, width: “100%” },
});