After the away win over the Wizards, the Rockets' morale was once again high. The tension between Porter Jr., Wood, and the Rockets coaching staff has disappeared, and even after Porter Jr. beat the Wizards with three-pointers, he had a warm hug with Silas. As Silas said, Porter Jr. was only temporarily uncool that led to the locker room conflict, and when the matter was over, Porter Jr. immediately apologized. And with a beautiful three-point kill, he helped the Rockets out of the quagmire of 8 consecutive losses.
Next, the Rockets will have a showdown with the Lone Rangers at 9:00 a.m. Beijing time on January 8, and the Rockets' advantage is to play at home, and the two key players of the Lone Rangers, Doncic and Porzingis, may not be able to play. In this case, although the Rockets are not as good as the Lone Rangers in terms of record, their lineup integrity is far beyond the Lone Rangers, and it is reasonable to take advantage of the home court to win another victory.
Let's take a look at the situation of the two teams, after the Rockets beat the Wizards, the record came to 11 wins and 28 losses, while the Lone Rangers won 4 consecutive games before this game and are currently in good shape. Porter Jr., Jaylen Green, Wood, Tate and Gordon, the rocket's most critical core players, can play in this game, although Shintin, Brooks and Garuba can not play, but the strength and status of the Rockets' lineup is on the rise.
Let's look at the Lone Rangers. In the previous game against the Warriors, Luka Doncic, the core of the Lone Rangers, sprained his ankle and is not expected to play against the Rockets. Porzingis, the core of the interior, triggered a health and safety agreement, and he will not play in this game.
As a result, the two cores of the Lone Rangers may not play. In addition, the Lone Rangers' bench center Majanovic was also affected by the agreement and could not play, Willie Cowley Stein missed the game for personal reasons, and Thomas Jr. left the team, which are the Lone Rangers' injuries and absences.
NBA expert Ben Dubos also gave a pre-game starting lineup prediction for both sides, the Rockets' starting 5 Tigers are the same as the previous game, there is still no suspense: point guard Porter Jr., shooting guard Jaylen Green, small forward position is Gordon, big forward and center is Tate + Wood.
On the Lone Rangers' side, with Potzin and Doncic sidelined, the starting lineup looks slightly underpowered: point guard Jaren Brunson, shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr., small forward Dorian Finney Smith, big forward Kleber, center Dwight Powell.
Looking at the pre-game situation of the two teams, the Rockets obviously have a considerable advantage in the integrity of the lineup, but don't look at the Lack of two star players on the Lone Rangers, but the overall strength of this team is still good, especially the new backcourt composed of Brunson and Hardaway Jr., which has a strong offensive ability. The Rockets must ensure the firepower of the attack, and the second is to play an excellent defense like the last game, and to do these two things, the Rockets should have a high probability of winning the game at home.