Back-to-Backs Have Been the Houston Rockets’ Kryptonite Recently

The Houston Rockets are set to complete their first back-to-back of the season after they battled it out in Austin last night. While the game was technically played at a neutral site, I think everyone can agree that it was virtually a home game for the San Antonio Spurs. 

That makes it all the more impressive for Kevin Durant and company to come away victorious in a tightly contested game. There’s no time to celebrate, though, as they had to get on a plane right away and head to ATL. 

Thankfully the Atlanta Hawks had a road-game yesterday too, so they’ll be dealing with similar circumstances. They do have a slight advantage over Houston in terms of rest, considering they played earlier in the day. 

Not to mention, they beat the Charlotte Hornets by 47 points. Only three players on the Hawks logged 24 minutes or more, with their rookie Kingston Flemings being one of those three. Nobody played more than 30 minutes, and their game ended before Houston’s matchup even started. 

It’s safe to say Atlanta’s players will be rested and ready for their home-opener after starting the season 2-0 on the road. The Rockets have quite the test on their hands after starting 2-0 themselves, but winning three straight would help prove something else. 

Last season, this team wasn’t able to win both games in a back-to-back scenario until the end of February, as covered on Roundtable. They finally did it on the 25th and 26th, removing them from the list of teams without a proverbial sweep in those situations. 

To be clear, that list included the forever .500 Bulls, Giannis-less Bucks, injury riddled Grizzlies and Mavericks teams, the underwhelming Magic, plus the tanking Nets and Wizards. 

Everyone on the Rockets would be motivated to beat the Phoenix Suns, but then lay an egg against Dallas 24 hours later. Or they’d come up with a big win against the Denver Nuggets, then get embarrassed by the Kings in Sacramento the very next night. 

With six back-to-backs on Houston’s schedule before we even reach 2027, there’s no time like the present to show that they can be better than last year. If not, you might as well pencil in six losses because the road won’t get any easier. 

Next weekend, the Rockets will have some preseason Déjà vu, facing Dallas and the OKC Thunder without any rest days in between. 

Since Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams are both expected to sit out for injury management, veterans like Marcus Smart and Clint Capela will need to step up. Hopefully we’ll even see Reed Sheppard return to the lineup. 

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