The Best and Worst Parts of the Rockets' Regular Season Schedule

The schedule for the upcoming NBA regular season was announced earlier this month. The Houston Rockets have a friendly start to the season, as they play 15 out of the first 25 games at home in the Toyota Center.

The Houston Rockets' first two games will be played at home at the Toyota Center against the Dallas Mavericks. The first game will be played on Wednesday, October 21; the second will be on Friday, October 23.

The Mavericks have had some coaching issues in the recent past. They recently hired Dusty May on June 23. Although May has an outstanding track record as a college coach, he does not have any NBA experience. It will take time for him to adapt to the NBA and to his new team. Because of this, Houston got lucky in getting matched up against them in the first two games of the season, giving them a strong edge.

Houston is the favorite in these matchups, and DraftKings has already offered betting lines for the first match. The moneyline for Houston to win is currently set at -310, and the spread is at -7.5. This means that Houston’s implied probability of winning is around 75% and that Houston is expected to win by around 7 or 8 points.

Having the first two games of the season be against Dallas at home gives Houston a great opportunity to come out strong out of the gate and start the season with a 2-0 record. It will be crucial for Houston to start the season strong, as the team will want to try to create a strong buffer before having a brutal schedule in March.

Houston has 16 games scheduled for the month of March, nine of which will be on the road. To make things harder, they will have four back-to-backs. March will be the most physically demanding month in Houston’s schedule and will be a true test of player fatigue. Houston’s coaching staff will have to be very cautious to not put too much pressure on and overwork any players.

Luckily, Houston will have a fairly easy and light schedule in February, giving the roster a chance to rest and recover before the brutal month of March. Houston only has 11 games scheduled for February, which includes only one back-to-back. The NBA All-Star break takes place on February 19th and goes until the 21st, giving the team further opportunity to recover.

Houston’s schedule seems slightly more challenging than the previous year. If Houston cannot take advantage of the favorable matchups in the beginning of the season, how grueling will the March schedule be?