On night two of a back-to-back in different cities, the Rockets travel to New Orleans to face the Pelicans (17-12) on Saturday evening. Houston (14-12) cruised to a blowout win in Friday’s game against a short-handed Dallas Mavericks squad.
Due in large part to veteran point guard Fred VanVleet, the Rockets beat the Pelicans in an earlier meeting from November. But that game was within Houston’s friendly confines of Toyota Center, where they are 12-2 this season, and it was not on a back to back. Saturday’s game at Smoothie King Center presents a new challenge.
The extent of the challenge, however, remains to be seen. Star forward Zion Williams missed New Orleans’ previous game with an illness, and he’s questionable for this matchup for the same reason.
Though the Rockets are on a back to back, Friday’s blowout allowed Ime Udoka to avoid overly taxing any of his regulars.