The NBA season begins tonight!
It’s the best time of the year! Game 1 of 82.
Last season, the Houston Rockets made the leap from 22 to 41 wins. While another 19-win increase would be tremendous, most Rockets fans would be happy for playoff basketball. The Western Conference is stacked once again, and every win matters. Last season, sixth place in the West finished with 49 wins and 10th place took 46. That’s what Houston’s young core and second-year coaching staff are staring down.
The Charlotte Hornets were Houston’s first win last season. The Rockets started 0-3 before making 21 triples against the Hornets and won a shootout. That ended up being the exact opposite of identity of that team, and with the entire core retained from last season, tonight figures to look more like the defensive slugfests that Ime Udoka and the Rockets preferred.
Charlotte dealt with injuries last year and finished 21-61. LaMelo Ball played in just 22 contests. They traded Terry Rozier and P.J. Washington. Miles Bridges began the year suspended. The player who played in the most games last season was Brandon Miller, their high draft pick. The Hornets figure to have a bit more stability this season and that could make them a tougher team to play. And remember: no one knows if they’re good or bad in the first month of the season. There’s always some fluky results that end up looking wild in April.
Further adding to the chaos is Charlotte’s new head coach, Charles Lee, who comes from the Boston Celtics. You know, the same Celtics that basically lived by the three and di-well they won the title so they didn’t really die by the three. You get it. Ball and Miller took about 70% of their shots in preseason from deep. That could be a result of preseason and players not wanting to drive a ton and draw contact in meaningless games. Or it could be the new directive from their coach.
If Houston is serious about making the postseason, that journey has to begin tonight. Newly-extended Jalen Green is going to have even more pressure to show off that March Jalen can show up in October and November, and Alperen Sengun will need to show that he can be “The Guy” on a playoff team.
Xiane and I will be on Playback again for this one. Remember, we can give out 20 passes to watch the game even if you don’t have League Pass or access to Rockets games. Don’t search for an illegal stream when you can just come in, watch legally for free, and hang out with other Rockets fans. It’ll be fun!
Tip-off
7pm CT
How To Watch
Space City Home Network
Injury Report
Rockets
None
Hornets
Mark Williams (Foot)
The Line (as of this post)
Looking ahead because we can
Friday night in Houston against the Memphis Grizzlies