Houston Rockets vs. Charlotte Hornets game preview

Dwight Howard is 2-0 against the Rockets since leaving Houston. That’s a decent storyline I guess.

Much more important for Houston is their ability to sustain a decent winning percentage during this period of injury. Chris Paul and Trevor Ariza are out again, with Nene likely to follow them onto the DNP-injured brigade.

The Rockets escaped Philadelphia with a win courtesy of some Eric Gordon heroics. Now they’ll need continued contributions from Clint Capela and Tarik Black down low and from the bench on offense. The loser in all four Hornets games so far scored under 95 points. If Houston can score against this Steve Clifford defense and keep up their defensive intensity from the first five games, they’ll have a chance to grab a W in Charlotte.

The Hornets are 2-2 with wins over the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks at home, with losses to the Bucks and Pistons on the road. Long story short, the Hornets seem to be better at home with a whole four games of sample size.

The Hornets will start Howard with Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrest, and Marvin Williams. Off the bench will come Malik Monk, Frank Kaminsky, Dwayne Bacon, and Johnny O’Bryant III.

Tip-off is at 6pm CT

(Sorry for the sloppy preview. Most of you will be watching the Astros game anyway.)