Houston Rockets vs Memphis Grizzlies Game Preview
Before we get started, I want to thank everyone who read any of these this season. They’ve always been a fun way to talk about basketball and the Houston Rockets in particular. Huge thanks to Xiane and Holly, who took a couple of previews each in January while I was abroad for my brother’s wedding.
As for tonight’s game, the Houston Rockets are resting everyone as they are stuck in the fifth seed of the Western Conference. Their opponent will almost certainly be the Denver Nuggets, who rest everyone except Nikola Jokic against San Antonio. Jokic needs 20 minutes to reach the 65-game mark. Meanwhile, the Spurs have every incentive to win that game because it pushed Denver to OKC’s side of the bracket, meaning San Antonio could get a run by Phoenix and Minnesota on their way to the Western Conference Finals. Once again, the Spurs are my pick to win it all this season. And next season. And the following season.
Announcement
The Memphis Grizzlies would really like to lose this game. As it stands, they are tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the sixth-best lottery odds. A win could put them in a tie for seventh place, where they could lose the tiebreaker with Atlanta by a coin toss. So winning tonight could be the difference between several ping pong balls and their floor dropping from 10 to 12. They’d be stupid to try to win.
Tonight will probably be a Reed Sheppard night. It’s also a great opportunity for JD Davison and Isaiah Crawford to run.
A win tonight equals Houston’s record from last year, when they were the second seed. It’s also worth mentioning that Houston went 41-41 two seasons ago and was five games out of the play-ins. That same record would put them in contention for the eighth seed this season.
Of course, I’ll be back for playoff game previews. The schedule hasn’t been released yet and won’t be until sometime this week. Houston will play Saturday or Sunday and each game will most likely be the late game.
Announcement
SuggestionF
7.30pm TC
How to watch
Space City Home Network
Injury recoveryrt
Rockkets
Steven Adams: OUT
Fred VanVleet: OUT
Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr.: OUT
Grizzly
Everyone you’ve heard of: OUT
The Line (starting from this post)
HOU -13.5
Check here for updates
Watch forward because we can
Game 1 away against the Denver Nuggets or Los Angeles Lakers