My mood after the Rockets defeated the Nuggets and 76ers for their current two-game winning streak.



24-11 record and tied for the 2nd seed in the West despite prioritizing load management.
Let's see how they do at Atlanta and at OKC on a back to back, Wednesday and Thursday.

Also the game everybody is waiting for, Rockets hosting the Lakers, is coming up on January 18!
That's going to be the top two seeds in the West and a 2020 Western Conference Finals preview.

The Houston Rockets are just coasting along. When the time is right they'll turn it up and become a powerhouse in the playoffs!

76ere? LULW

Joel Embiid is a monster and Clint Capela put up a 30-point and 14-rebound game to Embiid's 20 points and 12 rebounds. I loved that Clint Capela stepped up to another elite center and brought his A-game. He's starting to do that more often. The previous game against the Nuggets, Capela (16-10) had battled hard against a stud like Jokic (21-8). Neither center had a huge game but Capela out-rebounded him in a 130-104 Rockets blowout win. When Clint Capela can cancel out the other superstar center that's huge!

Earlier in his career he would back down from a challenge - Boogie Cousins, in particular, would eat Capela's lunch and dominate him - but now he's developing into a great all-around center in the game. He's out-played Karl-Anthony Towns in recent games as well. If the Rockets are going to make a deep playoff run and win the 2020 NBA Finals, I believe Clint Capela will have to be that difference maker inside the paint that every championship team needs. He can compliment Harden and Westbrook. And then you throw in P.J. Tucker hitting corner threes and Eric Gordon knocking down shots. The Rockets can be a dangerous team whether they play small ball or go big.

I was on the fence with Clint Capela for some time but now I'm a believer in his game. He's come a long way. Still only 25 years old.

I've been waiting for the next Houston Rockets game like...



When they play at Atlanta on Wednesday night it will have been five days later since the last time they played

The good news is they'll play five games total in the span of seven days. Including a pair of back-to-back games.
@Atlanta Wednesday, @Oklahoma City Thursday, vs. Minnesota Saturday, @Memphis Tuesday and vs. Portland Wednesday.

Hopefully they can go 5-0 or 4-1. Even 3-2 wouldn't be bad. Russell Westbrook will miss two of the games (load management).

The Rockets are 14-1 this season when Russell Westbrook attempts less than five threes in a game.
Mike D'Antoni deserves a lot of credit for allowing Russ to play his way. Not jacking up 3's in high volume.

Also the Rockets have the second best winning percentage this season vs. winning teams (over .500).

All of this is great news come playoff time. The'll face nothing but good team after good team in every round.
Like I've been saying this all comes down to how Russ steps up in the playoffs. He's got to play smart basketball.

Also with the load management (not playing in back to backs), Russell Westbrook will be fresh come playoff time.
No excuse for James Harden not to win his first NBA Title. Really none. If he don't get it done it'll never happen.

The Houston Rockets have all the talent in the world. This is all mental more than physical at this point.

Don't look now guys but the Houston Rockets play at Atlanta tonight and at Oklahoma City tomorrow!
They've had five days off total but now they're about to play five games in the next seven days.

I'd rather see Russell Westbrook rest tonight and play vs. Chris Paul tomorrow night. Huge TNT game.
Due to load management he's always been missing the second game of back to backs. Let's switch it up.

I want to see Russ take on and outplay CP3 to validate that off-season trade. Instead people will say that he was scared. LOL

The Rockets did what they had to do and beat the Hawks on the road, 122-115.

James Harden scored 41 points but was an inefficient 4-20 threes and 9-34 from the field.
Harden still posted a triple-double (8th all time) and the haters will say he was 19-23 free throws.
Also my man Clint Capela was a beast inside the paint with 22 points and 22 rebounds (22-22)!

It wasn't pretty. We didn't cover the -8 spread and Russell Westbrook (load management) didn't play, thankfully.
Russ will play tonight at Oklahoma City against Chris Paul. Huge 8:30 PM game on TNT. That's what I wanted.

With five games in seven nights the Rockets are now 1-0 during this tough stretch featuring very little rest.
The Houston Rockets are 25-11 and just need to keep the wins coming. I'll take an ugly win any night, baby!

I just wish the Rockets had covered the -8 spread. Especially after they had a 45-29 lead after the 1st quarter.

dude clearly turned it off

pretty sure he was 6/9 and like 3/5 from 3 in the first quarter with 20 points

then basically started chucking before finding the closest club to state farm arena

That's the only weakness the Rockets seem to have this season. A lot of times they play uninspired versus the bad teams under .500.

6 of their 11 losses so far this season have been against awful teams, including the Warriors on Christmas day (that was tough to watch). The good news is the Rockets are right behind the Bucks as the best team in the NBA this season in terms of having the best record versus winning teams. And the Rockets have played one of the toughest schedules in the NBA so far this season. That's actually been a good thing for us. LOL

It's amazing the Rockets only have more 4 more losses than the Lakers. The 1st seed in the West is still within our reach.
And the Lakers are just spanking the bad teams (21-0 vs. teams under .500). They're doing what we should be doing.

If the Rockets can just focus on every team, and not just the good teams, I believe they'll be the best team in the NBA once the playoffs start.

not only showing up, but holding leads

i get the run and gun and statistics of shooting threes, but when you're up 20+ in the first half, maybe slow it down a little

too many times you'll see them get a little cold and when you're using only 8 seconds on the 24 to jack up a bricked 3 it gives teams ample time to get back into it

pretty sure that christmas game, houston had a decent lead and watched it melt away when tehy went cold

play through capela a little more when you're out in front imo