Crucial matchups against Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, and Timberwolves define March, as Rockets fight for playoff positioning in the West's fierce race.
Despite yesterday’s loss in South Beach, previously covered in Roundtable, the Rockets managed to sneak through February with a 7-5 record. Finishing much more promising than their 3-3 performance before the All-Star break, they earned themselves the third best record in the West.
The constant shifting in the standings makes this time of the season a struggle for most playoff level teams. After all, March is the last full month of the regular season. Looking at the Rockets’ schedule, they have a number of incredibly important games in the near future.
To start things off, their fourth and final matchup against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs falls on March 8th. This time it’ll be on the road, testing their 17-15 record in unfamiliar territory. After only one win in their first three matchups, it would be nice to split the season series against an up and coming division rival.
Just three days later the Rockets will face an almost identical task. This time it’s against Nikola Jokic in Denver. With the Nuggets currently behind in the standings, but holding the 2-1 advantage in the season series, this could be a huge win for the Rockets. It'll come on the second night of a back to back for Houston, and the first night of a back to back for the Nuggets.
Returning home for a five game stretch in the middle of the month, two of those games seem more important than the others. The Los Angeles Lakers come to town for outings on the 16th and 18th.
The Lakers are still two games behind in the standings with Sacramento on the schedule tonight, but with that close of a difference, winning those both games could easily have LA moving up. Splitting the games would guarantee Houston a tiebreaker after their Christmas Day victory in Los Angeles.
A week later the Rockets will hit the road again for another similar situation. After a win in their first matchup, they’ll head to Minnesota looking for a 2-0 record in the season series, again guaranteeing a tiebreaker.
Based on the current standings, this is probably the biggest game of the month and one that can help solidify them as a top four seed. A win could also make the April 10th rematch much less stressful.
While the last game doesn’t hold as much weight as ones against conference competitors, the Knicks will come to town on March 31st. A nice test facing another top team to finish out the month, and a rematch against the difficult loss in MSG, covered on Roundtable.