Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs game preview

Originally, I had figured that this home-and-home series might decide the tanking fate of the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs. In the race for the worst NBA record and a guaranteed top 5 pick, both teams looked prime to enter the weekend on long losing streaks during which they had only shown glimpses of being competitive.

Then the Spurs upset the apple cart by doing the unthinkable: winning. Not only did the Spurs beat the Jazz on the road, they turned right around and beat the Indiana Pacers. Both of those teams definitely went into those games with playoff hopes, but they’ll both have to reevaluate after that. Now, the team with the worst point differential in the league sits in third place for the worst record, and if they have a good weekend they could end up being a lot closer to fourth than first.

Houston just welcomed Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. back after injuries. Meanwhile, the Spurs look to be without Devin Vassell and Doug McDermott at least on Saturday. Keldon Johnson, Romeo Langford, and Malaki Branham are day-to-day as of this writing. I do wonder if Silas or Pop will play some of these injured guys in one game but not the other.

We’ve said all year that Stephen Silas is in the hot seat. And it appears that the front office and ownership have no intention of making a decision in-season, but if the Rockets lose tonight in San Antonio, the noise is going to be LOUD heading into a Sunday game at Toyota Center. The Rockets will be going in on a 12-game losing streak and a loss in that game, while crucial for their worst record hopes, would probably be the final straw for the few sections of the fanbase that still think Silas could be a good coach.

Tip-off is at 7pm CT on AT&T SportsNet Southwest