Houston Rockets vs. Detroit Pistons game preview

The Rockets have won four straight, all by double digits. After three weeks of being an unrecognizable mess that shot the ball worse than I do, the Rockets are reminding the NBA that they have the talent to outclass almost everyone.

Houston now gets a home-and-home against the Detroit Pistons, who won the first four games of the season, lost their next five, then went on this current 4-1 run. Incredibly, Houston will be the first Western Conference team they have played this season. Again, Daryl Morey has to be mad that he cannot trade the Rockets into the East.

Tonight marks the first time that Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will share the court since “Tunnelgate.” The Griffin trade and then a Paul injury conspired to keep us from getting that rematch last season. It was fairly clear in the matchup leading into the tunnel scrap that Griffin and Paul were not...friendly towards one another.

Detroit features their two towers in Griffin and Andre Drummond. Offensively, those two will try to own the paint and make Houston pay for their lack of frontcourt depth. Their starting backcourt consists of Reggie Jackson, Reggie Bullock, and Reggie Glenn Robinson III. Off the bench, they bring Stanley Johnson, Langston Galloway, Ish Smith, Zaza Pachulia, and Jose Calderon.

The breakdown here is fairly self-explanatory. The Pistons have a size advantage down low and will attempt to exploit this fact. If Clint Capela gets into foul trouble, Houston will have issues. Houston has been missing Nene for weeks, so this will be yet another test for Isaiah Hartenstein as he tries to learn the intricacies of NBA basketball. It’s not all doom and gloom for Houston, however. They will have an advantage in the backcourt with their trio of guards. The Pistons have some length, which will be called upon to help corral James Harden and CP3. This game will come down to who can hang with their opponents more closely: Houston’s bigs or Detroit’s smalls.

Tip-off is at 7pm CT