:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73274876/usa_today_22867121.0.jpg)
In the Playback room for last night’s game, Xiane and I talked about a lot of things, but one that has stayed with me was the scheduling quirks. I’m a firm believer that everything usually evens out over the season, but sometimes there are games that tilt the scales a bit more than expected.
For example, the Houston Rockets will be the final home game of the season for three teams: Utah, Portland, and the Clippers. As we saw in Houston’s final home game, sometimes that finality gives just enough juice to take you past a team that on paper is better than you are.
Join us on Playback!
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25375784/2131974725.jpg)
Make sure to check out The Dream Shake’s official Playback stream to watch games with us! To sign up:
- Head over to playback.tv and create an account with your email address
- Connect and select your NBA League Pass login as your streaming account (sign up for League Pass here first if you don’t have it)
- Go to https://www.playback.tv/thedreamshake and hit the JOIN button
- Make sure to activate push notifications so you know when we’re going live
In Utah, the Rockets were on the receiving end. The Jazz had several players competing for jobs, and it showed. Meanwhile, the Rockets are pretty much set with their roster for the 2024-25 season (obviously things can change, but you get it). Houston was thoroughly outplayed. Were it not for the heroics of Fred VanVleet and some hot shooting in the first quarter, the Rockets probably lose that game by 20.
Now Houston must turn its attention to the Portland Trail Blazers, yet another team that has no issues losing games. The Blazers have 21 wins, but both San Antonio and Charlotte are sitting at 20. As we’ve discussed here ad nauseum over the previous three seasons, the worst three teams in the league have the same odds for the top pick and the top four picks. Detroit and Washington will finish with the two worst records, and now San Antonio, Charlotte, and Portland are duking it out to join them with those odds. The Spurs play the Pistons on the last day of the season, so that game will be pretty huge. A win tonight for Portland locks them into the fifth slot in the lottery, which gives them 10.5% odds at winning the lotto and an under 50% chance at moving into the top four.
It’s a back-to-back, but only two players saw more than 28 minutes of court time last night (VanVleet at 40 and Amen Thompson at 35). Jalen Green played 19 minutes (for an astounding +/- of -23). Jabari Smith Jr. played 26, but didn’t seem to exert much effort in the second half. If Houston is going to lose these final games, I would prefer if they went down swinging with Nate Hinton, Nate Williams, and Jermaine Samuels Jr.
Tip-off
9pm CT
How To Watch
Space City Home Network or Playback TV
Injury Report
Rockets
Alperen Sengun-OUT
Jae’Sean Tate-OUT
Blazers
Dalano Blanton-GTD
Anfernee Simons-GTD
Malcolm Brogdon-GTD
Jerami Grant-GTD
Matisse Thybulle-GTD
The Line (as of this post)
Looking ahead because we can
Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles against the Clippers
Loading comments...