Winners in nine of their past 12 games, the Rockets are starting to resemble the team most envisioned at the beginning of the season. The Spurs looked nothing like themselves in a 120-90 pasting at Golden State on Monday. They look to rebound from that loss on their home floor, where they’ve won 33 consecutive regular season games.
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SCHEDULING
A three-game road trip got off to a good start for the Rockets, who outlasted New Orleans on Monday for their third consecutive victory. Houston has now won nine of its last 12 games, a run that started after a thumping at the hands of the Spurs on Jan. 2. Houston moved three games over .500 with Monday’s victory and has closed the gap in the Western Conference playoff race. The road trip gets significantly more difficult over the next few days with the Spurs, who haven’t lost a home game all season, followed by a trip to Oklahoma City.
The Spurs had their 13-game winning streak come to an end Monday in a loss to Golden State. San Antonio hadn’t lost since Christmas Day when the Rockets handed them an 88-84 defeat. The Spurs took out some frustration from that game by pummeling Houston at home 121-103 on Jan. 2, part of San Antonio’s unbeaten home start that has reached 24 straight games this season and 33 straight dating back to last regular season. The Spurs are 17-7 ATS at home this year and 25-8 ATS during their regular season home winning streak. The teams split the first two of their four-game season series with each defending home court.
INJURIES
Rockets center Dwight Howard missed the last three games with a sprained left ankle suffered in the first minute of last Wednesday’s game with Detroit. But the Rockets are optimistic that he will return at some point during the road trip.
Tim Duncan missed Monday’s matchup at Golden State with soreness in his right knee. It’s been an ongoing issue with the Spurs big man for the past week as he sat out a game in Phoenix at the start of San Antonio’s just completed three-game road trip.
KEY MATCHUP
The good for Houston is that James Harden has turned into a human flamethrower and the intensity has been high during the team’s winning streak. On Monday, Harden played 41 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back, but the Rockets needed every minute they could get. He scored 35 points on 20 shots, 11 rebounds, eight assists, a steal, a block and only two turnovers. This is peak Harden. He even played some solid defense. Harden is the heart and soul of this Rockets team, and he seems to be coming out of whatever funk he was in for much of the season. The Rockets are going to need a whole lot more of this the rest of the season. Over his last six basketball games, the bearded one is averaging 28.7 points while shooting 49 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three-point range. He’s also racked up two triple-doubles in that span and nearly had a third on Monday.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
The Spurs were blitzed by the Warriors on Monday in what was a highly anticipated matchup that was over by halftime. San Antonio’s stingy defense was torched by the hot-shooting Dubs, who shot over 50 percent from floor. The veteran squad will take it for what it is – one game in a schedule that consists of 82 – and wait for the rematch. In the meantime it’s back to work. I really wouldn’t want to be a member of the Rockets come Wednesday. You know the Spurs will bounce back, and being at home, where they haven’t lost in, like, forever, will only get them more fired up. One good thing about Monday’s loss is that the veterans get more rest. The Rockets saw an uptick in play after re-acquiring Josh Smith, winning three straight, and Harden has looked like the Harden of old. Look for San Antonio to play much better defensively and the Rockets aren’t the Warriors.
San Antonio 111, Houston 102
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