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Because everyone loves home-and-home series (/sarcasm), the NBA saddled us with another against the Suns. The Rockets play in Phoenix tonight and back home on Wednesday. Except the Suns play Denver on Monday before flying to Houston. The Rockets had a similar setup to a home-and-home against Dallas, and it sucks. Sorry Phoenix.
Some nice notes about this game: both teams are on a back-to-back, so no one has an advantage in that regard (though the Suns are at home tonight of course). Also, the Rockets will get three days off between games, which is always great to have. Finally, this marks the first time these two teams will play. The Suns are the only team in the NBA the Rockets have yet to face, and they play Phoenix four times total this season. That's a weird schedule quirk for sure.
One last thing: the game starts at 8pm, which is much better than those stupid 9:30 start times. Once again, sorry to those abroad. I wish I could help you out, truly.
Tip-off at 8pm CST.
PG: Jeremy Lin vs. Goran Dragic
Every Jeremy Lin fan has been waiting for this game to show everyone else that Lin is better for the Rockets than Dragic.
Every Goran Dragic fan has been waiting for this game to show everyone else that Dragic was better for the Rockets than Lin.
Me? I'm just excited for this matchup.
Advantage: Even
SG: James Harden vs. Wesley Johnson
This little Harden slump needs to end. He's doing a decent job of getting to the line, but he's got to get his shot going again.
Johnson can do a bit of everything. He has games where he can score a bunch of points and others where it doesn't even seem that he played.
Advantage: Houston
SF: Chandler Parsons vs. Marcus Morris
Every Marcus Morris fan has been waiting for this game to prove that he's better than-nah just kidding.
Advantage: Houston
PF: Donatas Motiejunas vs. Markieff Morris
Yes, the twins will probably start tonight for the Suns just like they did last night against the Kings. We know that Marcus wasn't a great defender, but Markieff is supposed to be better. We'll see if Count Donuts can get some post moves in tonight.
Advantage: Even
C: Omer Asik vs. Luis Scola
The Rockets caught a break when Gortat went down, potentially for the rest of the year. It's a bit of luck, but I hate big man injuries so much and Gortat is a fun guy to watch and reportedly was being sought after by Morey close to the deadline. Nothing came out of that obviously, and the rumors were never confirmed (they never are), but it's interesting to think about.
Luis Scola in a non-Houston uniform feels weird. I've watched a few Suns games and I can tell you it's the same old Argentine Demon. He only goes 100%.
Advantage: Houston
Bench:
The Suns have Michael Beasley, Kendall Marshall, P.J. Tucker, Jared Dudley, and Hamed Haddadi.
The Rockets have Patrick Beverley, Carlos Delfino, Thomas Robinson, Greg Smith and Francisco Garcia
Advantage: Rockets, but I'm scared of Beasley and Dudley
Prediction: The Rockets need this one, win by 11.