Houston Rockets vs. Washington Wizards game preview

The Rockets head to the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Wizards

Despite a 2-3 homestand that easily could have ended 4-1 (or 1-4, if you want to be a “glass half full” sort of person), the Houston Rockets somehow solidified their place in the Western Conference standings. The teams behind Houston didn’t take advantage, and at the moment no one in the West outside of Oklahoma City is playing particularly good basketball.

Among those teams, no one in the West is better than 7-3 over their past ten games, and the only team with that mark is the Los Angeles Lakers, whom Houston just defeated on Sunday night. Injuries of course have played a part for each of those teams. You already know of Houston’s troubles, and most of the teams behind Houston are missing at least one key piece.

Which brings us to tonight’s game. I know the Kyle Kuzma meme of “Don’t be that team” has flipped over to Washington rather than Detroit, but there’s more to these games than just a desire to avoid embarrassment. The Rockets have already lost embarrassing games this year. The opener against Charlotte was embarrassing, as were losses to the Blazers and the Steph-less Warriors (twice). The Minnesota collapse probably doesn’t qualify, but it was frustrating. The point is that Houston has shown itself capable of losing to inferior teams. The first matchup between these two teams was close until late when Houston went on a run. That game was in Houston and didn’t feature Fred VanVleet, but the Rockets had much more trouble putting away a feisty Wizards squad than their records would indicate.

Obviously, with a packed Western Conference and murderer’s row of January games for the Rockets (February isn’t much better!), it’s imperative that the Rockets win games against the bottom teams in the league. The pressure is on Houston tonight, not Washington.

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

Tari Eason: GTD

Jabari Smith Jr.: OUT

Wizards

Jordan Poole: GTD

Bilal Coulibaly: GTD

Malcolm Brogdon: GTD

Marvin Bagley III: OUT

Saddiq Bey: OUT

The Line (as of this post)

Hou -9

Check here for updates

Looking ahead because we can

Thursday night in Memphis against the Memphis Grizzlies