The Houston Rockets face the Los Angeles Clippers in their next NBA game, hoping to rediscover their form. They have plummeted to fourth position in the Western Conference, barely 1.5 games ahead of their hosts in sixth.
The Clippers lost their most recent game and will be eager to get back on track right away. Ty Lue's men saw an opportunity to move five games ahead.The Timberwolves halted the 500 with a 108-80 victory in Los Angeles.
The setback added to their recent streak of inconsistency. LA has dropped three of their last six games. Terence Mann has been declared out for this game, while Mo Bamba and James Harden are questionable.
The Rockets have lost their past two games. This skid has lowered their record to 15-8, putting them three games behind conference leaders OKC.
Ime Udoka's team, who has been one of the season's surprise packages, has suffered defeats to the Kings and Warriors. Their most recent game was against the Warriors, and they lost 99-93.
The Rockets have a commanding 127-91 advantage in the regular-season meetings. Even more weird, it will be the third time in the current season when those two teams face each other as they have already played two matches in Houston. The rockets triumphed in both games having recorded a 111-103 win in the first encounter and a 125-104 win in the second clash. Notably, they have recorded three successive victories. The Clippers are currently 7-3 against the rockets in the last 10 games or Last five games at the previous arena which is now called Crypto.com arena, the Clippers are 4-1. This will be the first time that the Rockets will be playing at the Intuit Dome.
Nonetheless, the Rockets failed to turn the situation around and became the underdog for the 15th time in a row against the Golden State Warriors. In every sense of the word, they appear to have everything all figured out except on how to defeat the Warriors. They will proceed with the remaining three games of their California road trip in the clash against the Clippers at Intuit Dome. Finally, they aim at starting to play on offense more often.
They are 13th in points but are bad at shooting. The team is ranked 27th in shooting field goals and 26th in shooting three-point field goals. Also, the Rockets are 23rd from the charitable stripe. The Rockets are the monsters of the boards, as they are currently the best in NBA, especially when it comes to rebounds. Furthermore, they are not very slippery with basketball, they commit fifth most turnovers. The defense is well rounded as well, with the Rockets ranked sixth in the league in blocks.
Still, the Clippers trails by scoring only 24th points in it. They are also 14th in field-goal shooting percentage and 11th in from the three-point line. Yet in free throw shooting, the Clippers have not been very impressive as they are ranked 16th in the NBA. Similarly, they are also above the average in terms, standing ninth in the rebounds. Possessions have not been easy to maintain, and they are 24th in turnovers in relation to the basketball. Similarly, they rank 26th when it comes to blocking shots, and that has been challenging as well.
Jalen Green is the team's leading scorer, averaging 19 points per game. However, his shooting has been terrible, with only 39.6 percent from the floor. Alperen Sengun averages 18.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. In addition, he is shooting 47.3% from the floor. Fred VanVleet has been consistent, scoring 16 points per game. However, he is struggling to regularly hit his shot, making 39.1 percent of his attempts. Dillon Brooks averages 12.5 points per game in his supplementary role. Meanwhile, second-year player Amen Thompson averages 11.5 points each game.
Kawhi Leonard has yet to play this season after suffering a major knee injury. It appears to be typical protocol for the Clippers, as he has missed more games than he might have since signing. Meanwhile, P.J. Tucker is coping with a personal matter, and Norman Powell is getting some rest. Kevin Porter Jr. suffered an ankle injury.
This leaves the Clippers with James Harden, who has been inconsistent, and Ivica Zubac, who has not scored. The Clippers need these two to raise their game a little. Derrick Jones Jr. must also step up to give the Clippers a shot.
