Houston's road woes persist, but a favorable home schedule and easier path ahead offer a critical playoff advantage.
Sitting here with one game left in the month, Houston has a record of 9-7 through January. Though only slightly less concerning than their 7-6 December, it’s still a comforting improvement from the 2-4 start to the month.
That stretch gave us the only three game losing streak of the season, including dropping four out of five games over an eleven day span. All of those losses came against teams below .500, which definitely added insult to injury.
If we’re being optimistic, Alperen Sengun did leave the January 3rd loss in Dallas after only one minute of play, and was just returning for the loss in Sacramento. He also missed the consecutive losses in Portland that were sandwiched between the two previously mentioned games. Not to mention Portland had a stellar 9-2 start to January, which was the best in the league until their recent three game skid.
But being realistic, there was a concerning trend if you haven’t noticed by now: those were all road games. This has been an issue for the Rockets, as I've recently discussed their 13-13 record on Roundtable. Even against lower level competition, this team hasn’t been able to consistently win outside of Houston.
That makes it all the more valuable for them to have maintained their position in the 4th seed, and it’s imperative that they try to be there come April. Home-court advantage has proven to be helpful for them this season, holding an impressive 16-4 record at home.
The remaining schedule is in Houston’s favor if their home and away records tell us anything. After playing 46 out of 82 total games this season, they've only played 20 of their 41 home games. More than half of the total games completed, but also more than half of their total home games are still on the horizon.
If being at home for 21 out of the 36 remaining outings isn’t enough of an advantage, the Rockets also have the eighth easiest schedule. Tankathon considers the Thunder, Spurs, Nuggets, Suns, Lakers, and Warriors to all rank in the top 10 for toughest remaining schedules.
Point being: the Rockets path to success has already been paved, they just need to take advantage of what they have in front of them. Home games against weaker competition, and their biggest competitors are facing much tougher schedules.
With a rematch against Dallas set for tomorrow night, it’s time to end the month off strong and get revenge for the loss on January 3rd, covered on Roundtable. Take care of this lottery team at home and finish the dog days of January with a 10-7 record.