This will be a short preview because frankly, we've talked quite a bit about the Rockets already. Obviously the big news involves the trade deadline moves, on which Tom and BD have given you their insight already.

I'm more a fan of the moves than BD is, who is a fan of the moves individually but not so enchanted with the direction of the franchise. Fair enough, and we'll see the new "direction" of the franchise tonight. And yes, keeping the same course counts as a direction, even if it isn't much of a change.

So onto the game itself. The Rockets have faced the Clippers twice this season. In game one at Staples, they were blown out of the building and looked terrible on defense.

In game two, the Rockets played more physical, rallied around their defense, and even led late in the game. In fact, if you were to grade the top ten players that night, the Rockets might occupy 8 of those spots.

But the number one spot had to go to Chris Paul, who kept the Clips in the game and eventually won it for them by being awesome.

The Clippers traded Brian Cook and a second round pick in 2015 to the Wizards for Nick Young. Oddly enough, David Stern didn't veto this trade highway robbery. So, the Clippers obtained a young swingman with tons of upside to replace Chauncey Billups for...nothing. Wow.

Good thing the NBA doesn't favor LA and New York or anything.

For the Rockets, the big change comes in the rotation. Out is Jordan Hill, and in is Marcus Camby. No clue how many minutes he'll get, but he might be needed since size will be such an important factor in this game.

Kevin Martin is still day-to-day with a 50% chance of playing tonight, according to Friedman and Feigen.

I think the Rockets lose today 105-90. The game is in Los Angeles, starts at 2:30pm CST, and is against a top 4 team in the Western Conference. Oh, and we won't be allowed to touch Blake Griffin or Chris Paul. Basketball reasons, you see.

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