The Houston Rockets have to turn around quickly after a demoralizing loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Houston now gets a top 5 team in the East, the Toronto Raptors.
Houston Rockets vs. Toronto Raptors game preview
Toronto makes its hay on the defensive end, where they are sixth in defensive rating. Offensively, they’re a more mediocre 19th. The Raptors got off a 14-5 start, but have been a .500 team since then. They have two All-Stars in Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram. Luckily for Houston, three of Toronto’s top 5 players in offensive and defensive rating are questionable or out. Immanuel Quickley is available, and some advanced stats say that he’s been their best player this season. Ditto for Sandro Mamukelashvili, who doesn’t have the fun of playing in front of Flava Flav these days but is still a rock-solid NBA player.
The Rockets have to take off right after this game for a road game (ugh) on national television (UGH) against the Denver Nuggets (UGHHHHHH). So, this game has a ton of meaning. The schedule starts lightening up moving forward, but the Rockets play Denver, the Lakers (twice), and Minnesota this month, so seeding is probably going to be determined during this stretch of games. Also, since it’s the first game of a back-to-back we’ll see if Ime Udoka plays Dorian Finney-Smith tonight or saves him for tomorrow.
Tip-off
7pm CT
How To Watch
Space City Home Network
Injury Report
Rockets
Steven Adams: OUT
Fred VanVleet: OUT
Jae’Sean Tate: OUT
Raptors
Trayce Jackson-Davis: OUT
Jakob Poeltl: GTD
Collin Murray-Boyles: OUT
A.J. Lawson: GTD
The Line (as of this post)
HOU -5.5
Check here for updates
Looking ahead because we can
Wednesday night at altitude against the Denver Nuggets
See More:
