Houston Rockets vs. New Orleans Pelicans game preview

The Rockets return from NBA Cup action to take on the injury-plagued Pelicans

It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the New Orleans Pelicans.

After a season in which they finally got a healthy Zion Williamson (until the fourth quarter of their first play-in game, naturally), the Pels thought they had made “The Leap.” After all, they finished as many games ahead of Houston (eight) as they were behind the top seed in the West. They had cushion. They had momentum. Time to go!

They traded Dyson Daniels (almost a guaranteed All-Defense player this season) and two first round picks for Dejounte Murray, who promptly fractured his hand in the season opener. And that was just the beginning. Zion has missed all but six games with a hamstring strain. C.J. “Ain’t Gonna Be No More Layups” McCollum missed 13 games with an adductor injury. And now Brandon Ingram is out with an ankle.

The Pelicans have played 27 games. They do not have a single player that has appeared in all 27 games. Only four have seen action in 20 games or more. Houston has five players who have played in every game and three more than have played 20+. There’s your season right there. There’s a reason Daniels called the Pelicans “cursed” last week.

For the Houston Rockets, their schedule finally clears up for a bit. After eight straight games against teams with playoff aspirations, Houston gets a nice four-game stretch to refocus and improve. That starts tonight against a wounded but game Pelicans squad. Murray and McCollum give them a chance every night, and Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy III, and Yves Missi are the only untouchables in the trade rumors. Still, these were games that Houston found ways to lose last season. We’ll get to see if they have moved forward from those days.

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

None

Pelicans

Brandon Ingram: OUT

Zion Williamson: OUT

Jordan Hawkins: GTD

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl: GTD

Jose Alvarado: GTD

The Line (as of this post)

HOU -10

Check here for updates

Looking ahead because we can

Sunday at Toronto Raptors