I hate to be the “I told you so” guy (he said, lying), but this was my last line for the Minnesota preview.
It all adds up to a crushing loss to an undermanned team on national television tonight. It’s the death knell for this iteration of the Houston Rockets.
Again, that was before Houston blew a 13-point lead in under three minutes in the biggest OT chokejob since the play-by-play era started. And at first, I figured I was completely done watching this team. I believe “[expletive] basketball” came
out of my mouth several times Wednesday night and Thursday morning, but I think I’ve gone through the stages of grief and have accepted…acceptance.
Anyone who has watched the 2025-26 Rockets has seen their fair share of blown leads. Off the top of my head, I can think of five games where Houston held what felt like a commanding lead only to lose (at New Orleans, at Sacramento, at New York, at Minnesota). Houston is also 1-7 in overtime games, and I’m not convinced they deserved to beat Orlando in their lone win. They’ve also lost several games where the energy, effort level, and focus were not good enough to beat anyone (at San Antonio twice, at Denver, at Utah, at Portland, at Dallas twice, at the Clippers, at Sacramento the other time, vs. Boston, vs. Charlotte, at Chicago). It’s felt like every one of Houston’s losses has been devastating in one way or another. Either they put forth a pitiful amount of effort or they blow a big lead.
And yet, the Rockets still have only dropped three straight games once this season. That included the two Portland games in Oregon and the Sacramento game wher Houston got blown out. Houston has bounced back from bad losses but have never used those wins to start a streak of their own. Houston’s longest win streaks this season has been five games, twice. Since the calendar turned to January, their longest streak is three wins.
You know all of this. You’ve been watching.
So the question tonight is: how do the Rockets bounce back from a collapse that even the Choke City Rockets didn’t accomplish? The season is, and has been, over already for a few months. But how the Rockets respond tonight against an undermanned tanking Memphis Grizzlies squad is going to be incredibly telling for the future direction of the franchise. If they come out feeling sorry for themselves, the narrative will be that Ime Udoka has lost the locker room, something we haven’t heard yet despite fan outcry. But if Houston comes out and handles the young Grizz, maybe Udoka still has a hold on this team and can get them moving in the right direction. Anything for Houston fans to grab onto heading into a likely 4-0 or 4-1 drubbing in the first round of the playoffs. We’re desperate.
Of course, it’s the hope that kills you.
Tip-off
7pm CT
How To Watch
Space City Home Network
Injury Report
Rockets
Steven Adams: OUT
Fred VanVleet: OUT
Grizzlies
Ja Morant: OUT
Zach Edey: OUT
Jaylen Wells: OUT
Ty Jerome: OUT
Jahmai Mashack: GTD
The Line (as of this post)
Hou -12.5
Check here for updates
Looking ahead because we can
Sunday night on the road against the New Orleans Pelicans
