The Rockets are finishing up a three-game road trip with Thursday's matchup versus the Pelicans (box score) at New Orleans' Smoothie King Center. Houston enters with three straight losses, overall, and an eight-game road losing streak that dates back to late January.
Even with that recent downturn, the Rockets (37-25) remain at No. 5 in the Western Conference standings and on course for a likely playoff berth. On the other side, New Orleans (17-45) continues to hover near last place.
However, the Pelicans have been much improved when playing with superstar forward Zion Williamson, who has missed most of the NBA's 2024-25 season due to injuries. Entering Thursday, in their last five games with Williamson available, New Orleans had won four times.
As expected, Williamson is healthy and in Thursday's starting lineup.
For the Rockets, veteran guard Fred VanVleet was again sidelined by a right ankle injury, which has been the case for all but one game since Feb. 1. He remains day-to-day in status. The Pelicans continue to be without Herb Jones and Dejounte Murray due to season ending injuries.
Check back for real-time coverage and updates throughout the evening. Houston enters only a game back of Memphis (38-24) for first place in the NBA's Southwest Division and the No. 4 seed in the West, which would mean home-court advantage in at least one round of the 2025 playoffs.
In Tuesday's loss at Indiana, Jabari Smith Jr. started at forward and Tari Eason came off the bench. On Thursday in New Orleans, those roles for Houston's third-year forwards were flipped.
Eason had a far superior outing, finishing with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting (50.0%) and 2-of-4 from 3-point range (50.0%). He also had 14 rebounds (8 offensive) and 4 assists in only 26 minutes.
Smith had 12 points and 9 rebounds in 37 minutes while shooting just 4-of-11 from the field (36.4%). Smith did make 2-of-5 shots from 3-point range (40.0%), though still on reduced efficiency relative to Eason.
Whenever VanVleet eventually returns, both Smith and Eason will play off the bench (with Amen Thompson shifting to a starting role at forward). But for now, head coach Ime Udoka is working to find the best fit alongside the quartet of Thompson, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun.
In two December wins over New Orleans, Rockets guard Jalen Green averaged 32 points per game while shooting approximately 58% from the field and 48% on 3-pointers.
Willie Green, head coach of the Pelicans, said that his message to the Pelicans in Thursday's game is to defend Houston's Green with more physicality.
Green struggled in Tuesday's loss at Indiana, scoring just 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting (30.8%) and 2-of-7 from 3-point range (28.6%) while committing five turnovers. He'd love to turn things around against a New Orleans team that, on paper, is a friendlier matchup. For the 2024-25 season, the Pelicans rank No. 29 among the NBA's 30 teams in defensive rating.
But between a guard duo of 6-foot-3 CJ McCollum and 6-foot-8 Trey Murphy III, the Pelicans do have size and length in the backcourt, which could present challenges.
Via Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka sayst his team's recent choices to incorporate more zone defense and two-center lineups (featuring both Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams) will be dictated by each game's matchups and opposing personnel.
In comments just prior to tipoff, Pelicans head coach Willie Green showed clear respect to second-year Rockets prospect Amen Thompson (who started at point guard, in VanVleet's absence).
"I think you start with his defense," Green said of Thompson's improvement as a player. "His ability to guard multiple positions, his ability to cause havoc defensively for their group. He has a great knack for the ball. ... He's a really good rebounder. He's big and physical, and they're playing him at point guard offensively, at times. He understands how to play in that dunker area. ... He's getting better and better."
Whenever VanVleet returns, Thompson will continue to start while shifting to a forward role. In 31 total games as a starter, Thompson has averaged 16.3 points (54.5% FG), 9.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 1.7 steals in 37.5 minutes per game.
David Roddy, N'Faly Dante, and Jack McVeigh are healthy but unavailable for the Rockets while spending time in the G League, with the same status applying to Keion Brooks Jr., Lester Quinones, and Antonio Reeves for the Pelicans.
The Rockets will return to Houston to launch a season-long homestand of six straight games inside Toyota Center, where Houston is 20-10 this season. The opener of that homestand is a rematch with the Pelicans on Saturday night, with tipoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Central.
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