Houston Rockets announce full schedule for NBA’s 2021-22 season

Jalen Green and the Rockets begin regular-season play on Oct. 20 in Minnesota, followed by an Oct. 22 home opener versus Oklahoma City.

With top rookie Jalen Green as a clear box office attraction, the Houston Rockets released their complete schedule for the NBA’s upcoming 2021-22 regular season. Barring an unexpected disruption, it will be the first time since 2018-19 for Houston to complete a normal schedule of 82 games, home and away, with fans at full capacity.

Both of the last two seasons were shortened to 72 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and each had significant fan restrictions in place for a sizable portion. That is not expected to be the case in 2021-22.

The regular season begins for the Rockets on Oct. 20 in Minnesota, followed by the much anticipated home opener on Friday, Oct. 22 versus Oklahoma City. See below for all 82 game dates and times and the team’s official announcement, which contains all sorts of additional details.

From the team: Houston announced its schedule for the 2021-22 season, which the NBA is celebrating as its 75th anniversary. This marks the Rockets’ 55th season as an NBA franchise and their 51st in Houston.

The Rockets preseason schedule consists of four games, with the first two at Toyota Center vs. Washington on Oct. 5 and vs. Miami on Oct. 7.  Houston closes out the preseason with games at Toronto on Oct. 11 and at San Antonio on Oct. 15.

The Rockets open the regular season at Minnesota on Oct. 20 before playing three of four games at Toyota Center, including the home opener vs. Oklahoma City on Oct. 22. Houston will play five straight road games three times this season, with the first set coming from Oct. 31 through Nov. 7.

Following a three-game homestand from Nov. 10-14, Houston has a four-game road trip from Nov. 15-22 followed by a stretch of seven of eight at home from Nov. 24 through Dec. 10.

From Dec. 11-27, the Rockets will play eight of nine on the road before a three-game homestand which includes a New Year’s Eve matchup vs. Miami and New Year’s Day game vs. Denver. The last two times Houston played on New Year’s Day was in 2001 and 1981.

The Rockets will play seven of nine on the road from Jan. 3-21 before a season-long five-game homestand from Jan. 24 through Feb. 2. Five of Houston’s final seven games heading into All-Star break will be on the road.

Houston’s first game post All-Star break is at Orlando on Feb. 25, followed by a stretch with 10 of 13 games at Toyota Center from Feb. 27 through March 21. The Rockets have a three-game road trip from March 23-26 before wrapping up the season by playing five of seven at home, including the finale vs. Atlanta on April 10.

This season, the Rockets will face each NBA team at least once at home and once on the road, including Western Conference opponents twice both home and away, except for the following: Denver (1 home, 2 road), Golden State (1 home, 2 road), L.A. Clippers (2 home, 1 road), and Minnesota (2 home, 1 road).

The Rockets have 13 sets of back-to-back games this season, including five from Dec. 10 through Jan. 1 and four in March.  Four sets are both home games while three feature road games in multiple cities.

Houston will play 13 games on Monday (5 home), seven on Tuesday (3 home), 18 on Wednesday (8 home), six on Thursday (3 home), 17 on Friday (10 home), seven on Saturday (2 home), and 14 on Sunday (10 home).

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