Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs game preview

SB Nation

Tonight begins another journey in hopes of winning the NBA Cup for the Houston Rockets.

There were obviously several moments last year where Houston announced to the league that they were done being bad.

The first of those was winning their NBA Cup group. With their win on the neon green court in Minnesota, Houston wrapped up the group with a game to spare. They had to sweat out the results on the final day because the Sacramento Kings made 15 straight shots, but Houston was able to secure a home game in the knockout stages, which allowed them to finally knock the Golden State Warriors off for the first time in four years. Even with a loss in the semifinals to the Thunder, it was a big moment for the Rockets and their young players who had not played in meaningful games during their early NBA careers.

Which brings us to the San Antonio Spurs. If there is a team this year that could mimic the success of last season’s Rockets, it’s this one. Houston didn’t have Victor Wembanyama (the MVP and DPOY if the season ended today) or the reigning Rookie of the Year in Stephon Castle. De’Aaron Fox and Luke Kornet are game-time decisions but every Rockets fans reading this is nodding solemnly as I say that at least one, if not both, will definitely be available for tonight’s game. Dylan Harper is out, which is a shame because he’d been playing so well. Thankfully he avoided major damage and will be back this season.

One interesting note for tonight will be to see how the Rockets defend Wembanyama. Ime Udoka’s go-to last season was to put Dillon Brooks on him try to keep Wemby outside the lane while letting the big men patrol the paint. Will the Rockets go with a similar strategy tonight with Josh Okogie? Will they put Jabari Smith Jr. on him? Or will they have Alperen Sengun try to stay connected?

The rest of this NBA Cup group is rough. They include Portland (1-0 in group play), Denver (0-1), and Golden State (0-0). It seems unlikely that any of these teams will go 4-0, and it feels more likely that they could all go 2-2. Remember that the tiebreaker is point differential, so if this game is a blowout there’s still reason for both teams to play hard until the final whistle.