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Well, last week sucked.
A week ago, the Rockets were riding high, and I was three wins away from a Shane-o-Mac baseball jersey.
Instead, Houston has lost three straight and are lucky to still be in fourth place. Tonight, they host the Utah Jazz who refuse to beat any good teams to help the Rockets but will certainly play their A game tonight because that's how things have been going for the good guys lately.
You have to hope that the comforts of home will get the Rockets back on track. They are better than they have shown in their last four, but they kept running into teams coming off of losses that needed a big win.
The next five games are ones that Houston should win, on paper. Tonight they host the Jazz, then they get Minnesota at home, travel to Cleveland and Charlotte, then come back home to play the 76ers. None of the games are back-to-backs, and after the Philly game Houston will get a day off before welcoming the LA Clippers, who could be riding a 16-game winning streak into the Toyota Center. That game could be huge, not just for the standings but for Houston's confidence.
But they don't play games on paper. Minny might be the only team above .500 in that group, but the Jazz and 76ers have already beaten Houston, Minnesota has given them two tough games, Charlotte has beaten quite a few good teams this season and almost beat the Houston on opening night, and Cleveland beat the Suns and Warriors last week.
So this isn't a cakewalk, though the Rockets could sure use one tonight. The Rockets seem to be playing teams at wrong times, but it would be nice to see a bad team finally roll over against the good guys like they do against other teams. If not, the Rockets are still the better team tonight.
As always, we hate the Jazz.
And here's a fantastic video from the FOX show "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" about statistical analysis. <object width="425" height="350" class="mceItemFlash"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G3HpuCC4-0o"></param> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G3HpuCC4-0o" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed> </object>
Holt's Favorite Movie Is "Moneyball" from "Operation: Broken Feathers" | BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (via FOX)
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