The Houston Rockets are 20 games above .500 for the first time since 2019.
That’s also the same year (not season) that Houston last defeated the Miami Heat. The Rockets have lost to the Heat nine straight times, which is the equivalent of about 18 straight losses if the teams played in the same conference. Houston broke a 15-game losing streak to the Golden State Warriors earlier this season, and tonight they can slay another demon in South Beach.
Houston comes in with the NBA’s longest active winning streak at eight games. The longest active losing streak in the NBA belongs to the Heat, who have dropped nine straight, which has dropped the proud franchise into tenth place in the East as I type this (they could be ninth again when you read this though).
The big attraction tonight is the return of Amen Thompson to Houston’s lineup and his impending rematch with Tyler Herro. The two got into a scuffle the last time these teams met, and Thompson received a two-game suspension for his part. The Rockets are a better team, especially defensively, when Thompson plays. It will be interesting to see how Ime Udoka handles the lineups since this is basically the first time Houston has been whole since early in the season. Starting isn’t as important in today’s NBA since guys regularly come off the bench and play more minutes than starters, but Houston has its full complement of depth that we expected coming into the season.
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
NBA TV, Space City Home Network, and Playback
Injury Report
Rockets
Reed Sheppard: OUT
Heat
Nikola Jovic: OUT
Andrew Wiggins: GTD
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