In a matchup pitting one of the NBA’s hottest teams against perhaps its coldest, the Houston Rockets visit the Clippers on Friday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. This match is also part of group play for the NBA’s 2023-24 in-season tournament.
The Rockets (6-3) enter with six straight wins, while the Clippers (3-7) have lost six consecutive contests and have yet to win since making a blockbuster trade for former Houston star James Harden.
But Houston’s recent surge came within the friendly home confines of Toyota Center. It remains to be seen whether Ime Udoka’s group can maintain its impressive form on the road, where the Rockets began the 2023-24 season at 0-2 before a seven-game homestand.
With expectations of championship contention entering this season, the Clippers will be heavily incentivized to get a win as they look to climb back up the Western Conference standings after that much slower-than-expected start. Los Angeles is also attempting to get off the schneid during in-season tournament play, where the Clippers are 0-2 in the West’s Group B and the Rockets are 1-0.