The Houston Rockets have won three straight games and five of their last six.
The New Orleans Pelicans have lost seven games in a row and have just five victories this season.
The team with the second-best record in the Western Conference will visit the team with the worst record in the conference on Thursday night.
The Rockets’ depth was on display in a 114-101 victory at Charlotte on Monday. Two of the seven Houston players averaging in double figures — Dillon Brooks and Tari Eason — were sidelined and yet the team still produced balanced scoring.
Amen Thompson moved into the starting lineup in Brooks’ place and had 19 points and 11 rebounds, while two-way player Cam Whitmore scored 17 off the bench.
“That’s what I love about this team,” said guard Fred VanVleet, who scored 20, “different guys stepping up and contributing every night.”
The Rockets were focused from the opening tip, taking a 62-31 halftime lead while playing with a couple of things on their mind.
One was that they knew what the Hornets were capable of even though they have the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference. On opening night, Houston squandered an 18-point lead in a 110-105 loss to the Hornets.
Earlier this week, Houston got off to a slow start, allowing 35 first-quarter points before coming back in a 114-110 victory on Sunday at Toronto.
“We had great focus on the back-to-back on the road,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “I loved our grit and intensity from the start.”
The Rockets will try to complete a sweep of a three-game road trip against teams that have combined for one fewer win than Houston’s 20.
The Pelicans are coming off one of their better performances recently. They led visiting Denver by 17 points late in the third quarter before being forced into overtime and losing 132-129 on Sunday.
That outing continued a recent trend of guard Dejounte Murray rounding into form and center Yves Missi, the 21st overall pick in this year’s NBA draft, playing like one of the top rookies in the league.
Murray suffered a broken non-shooting hand in the season opener and missed 17 games. But in the 12 games since returning, he has started to become the all-around leader New Orleans thought it was getting when it acquired him in an offseason trade with Atlanta.
Murray’s scoring average of 16.2 is 6.3 points below his career-high average from last season, and he’s shooting just 35.7 percent from the floor. But in 44 minutes against the Nuggets, Murray had 17 points, 15 assists, eight rebounds and six steals.
“His scoring may not be where he wants it to be,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said of Murray, “but he’s going out and finding his teammates. He’s super engaged on the defensive end. He can impact the game in so many different ways.”
Missi held his own against Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, who didn’t score until less than three minutes remained in the second quarter before finishing with a triple-double. Missi, who had 21 points and nine rebounds, has started 23 of 29 games and is averaging 9.7 points and 8.6 rebounds.
“It’s incredible,” Green said, “what we’re asking a 20-year-old rookie to do night-in and night-out, and he’s answering the call.”
–Field Level Media
