Charlotte comes in matching their longest win streak since 2016, overcoming early deficits with dominant scoring en route to victory. Houston struggles to score points, being held under 100 on consecutive nights
The red hot Charlotte Hornets came into Toyota Center on Thursday night looking for a league high eighth straight win. Not quite the same as OKC’s 15 game win streak earlier in the season, but still ultra impressive to match the Knicks current eight game stretch.
No small feat for the lowly Charlotte team, as they just equaled their most consecutive wins in nearly a decade. Strangely enough, their last time winning seven straight games was against Houston on March 12th, 2016.
It’s not like they’re just winning close games either, with dominant 55 point, 23 point, and three separate 27 point victories in 2026 alone, including one against the Thunder. This current streak also consists of wins against the Mavericks, Pelicans, Grizzlies, and Spurs.
The game in Houston was their shot to defeat the entire southwest division in five straight games. The Rockets hoped to slow Charlotte down, and in turn, repeat a pattern they’ve seen all year.
After a disappointing blowout to the Thunder, scoring a season low 91 points, the Rockets bounced back for a big win against Minnesota.
Following a tough overtime loss in Philly, again, the Rockets had the determination to beat the breakout Pistons in Detroit the very next night, as covered on Roundtable.
Despite seeing a 28 point swing in the loss against San Antonio last week, the team's resilience was on display again in the 104-86 blowout in Atlanta.
It’s an odd trend, considering it’d be more consistent to lose on the second night of back to backs —— but a trend that Rockets fans wanted to see continue after their embarrassing loss to Boston the previous night.
Unfortunately, fans didn’t get what they wished for from the outset of the game, as they saw a double digit first quarter deficit instead. Thankfully that was erased one minute in to the second quarter, when Isaiah Crawford's high energy helped Houston tie the game at 29 apiece.
A short-lived relief, as the surging Charlotte squad extended the lead to 15 points before the quarter ended, going into the half with a 61-49 lead over the Rockets in Houston. Another uphill battle for the home team.
After turning the ball over 12 times in the first half (or once every two minutes), Houston threw the ball away again on the opening possession of the second half. A corner three by Kon Knueppel gave the Hornets their 22nd point off of those 13 turnovers.
Déjà vu hit everyone in the arena as the deficit ballooned to 20+ points again early in the fourth quarter. Not even a massive dunk from Uncle Jeff Green could give the Rockets enough juice to get the job done.
Finishing 109-99, Houston failed to score 100 points on back to back nights. Not a very comforting sight to see right as the trade deadline passes. They'll now look to improve from within, and hope to be ready for OKC on Saturday.