After playing five straight games on the road, the Houston Rockets finally come home on Friday night. They begin their season’s last homestand, which consists of three games against the Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.
The Rockets were eliminated from the playoffs a while ago. At this point of the 2022-23 season, the only thing left to play for is pride and momentum heading into the offseason.
Houston had some success the last time it was at the Toyota Center for an extended period. It concluded a six-game homestand with a 3-3 record that featured a three-game winning streak against teams likely headed to the NBA postseason.
“At the end of the day, we want to end the season on the right note and with some momentum going into the offseason,” said Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. after the game against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. “We’ve got five (games) to lace them up and take advantage of what we do, and that’s playing basketball.”
Porter has been playing some of his best basketball since his return from a toe injury that caused him to miss 20 games. During the road trip, Porter recorded the second triple-double of his career in Memphis with 14 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds. He is averaging 20 points, 6.5 assists and 5.7 rebounds over his last 10 games.
What is more impressive is he only had three turnovers in back-to-back games versus the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.
Houston (18-59) hopes to end its seven-game losing streak as it takes on the Pistons (16-60) on Friday night. Should the Rockets remain in front of Detroit in the standings, it would snap a two-season run in which Houston finished with the league’s worst record.
Come June, both teams are projected to have better than a 50% chance of selecting in the top four of the 2023 NBA draft.
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