Courtesy of Wednesday’s win over Charlotte, the Rockets (1-3) are off the schneid in the NBA’s 2023-24 regular season. Now, as the Sacramento Kings (2-2) visit Toyota Center on Saturday and Monday, the question is whether Houston can turn it into a winning streak.
For Fred VanVleet and the resurgent Rockets, Saturday’s matchup is the third of a season-long homestand of seven games in length.
On paper, an opponent that finished third in the Western Conference in the 2022-23 regular season might appear daunting for a Houston group that remains in somewhat of a rebuilding phase after finishing the last three seasons with the West’s worst record.
But the Rockets suddenly have a much greater veteran presence between VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Jeff Green, and the Kings are without All-Star guard and Houston native De’Aaron Fox due to an ankle injury. The Rockets will be without Amen Thompson after he suffered his own ankle injury, though the rookie guard is nowhere near as critical to Houston’s winning formula as Fox is to the Kings.