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Rockets Announce Schedule for 50th Anniversary Season

Houston –The Houston Rockets today announced their schedule for 2016-17, which is the 50th season in franchise history.  The Rockets began play in San Diego in 1966 before moving to Houston for the 1971-72 season.

ROOT SPORTS is set to broadcast 75 of the Rockets 82 games this season, as well as the entire preseason schedule.  Please note that the start time for the Rockets preseason opener against the Shanghai Sharks at Toyota Center on Sunday, Oct. 2, has been moved to 7 p.m.

All games will once again be available on the radio broadcast home of the Houston Rockets, SportsTalk790.  In addition, the Rockets Spanish radio broadcast returns to La Ranchera KEYH 850 AM/KNTE 101.7 FM.

The Rockets open the season at the L.A. Lakers on Wednesday, Oct. 26 and will play seven of their first eight on the road from Oct. 26 through Nov. 9.  The 2016-17 home opener is against in-state rival, Dallas, on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.

Houston will play five of seven at Toyota Center from Nov. 12-23, beginning with the first of two visits from their other Texas adversary, San Antonio, on Saturday. Nov. 12.  Following that stretch, the Rockets embark on a season-high tying five-game road trip from Nov. 25 through Dec. 2.  Fourteen of Houston’s first 20 games are on the road.

Over a 31-day span from Dec. 5 through Jan. 5, the Rockets will play 12 of 17 games at Toyota Center, including two four-game homestands.  That stretch includes the only home game of the season against the L.A. Clippers on Friday, Dec. 30 and is capped off by the first of two home games against Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, Jan. 5.

The Rockets have 10 of 14 games on the road during a stretch from Jan. 6-29.  After hosting Kevin Durant for the first time as a Golden State Warrior on Friday, Jan. 20, Houston embarks on another five-game road trip from Jan. 21-29.  At the conclusion of that trip, the Rockets will play eight of their next 10 at Toyota Center from Jan. 31 through Feb. 27.

Houston opens March by playing three of its first five games on the road, before LeBron James and the defending NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers make their lone appearance at Toyota Center on Sunday, March 12.  That begins a stretch where the Rockets will play six of eight at home, including four straight from March 20-28, culminating with their second and final time hosting reigning MVP Stephen Curry and Golden State on Tuesday, March 28.

The Rockets will play five of their final eight games on the road, but close out the regular season at Toyota Center against Minnesota on Wednesday, Apr. 12.  Houston is looking to make its fifth straight playoff appearance and joins Dallas and San Antonio as the only teams to have gone .500 or better in each of the past 10 seasons.

After not having more than three consecutive home games in 2015-16, the Rockets will play four straight games at Toyota Center four times this season.  Houston has three five-game road trips this season.  The Rockets only had one road trip longer than three games in 2015-16.

The Rockets have 16 sets of back-to-back games this season after having a league-high tying 20 in 2015-16.  Houston has just two sets of back-to-backs in October and November but 10 in December and January.  The Rockets have just four sets of back-to-back games over the final three months of the season.

Houston will play 12 times on Monday (7 home), nine on Tuesday (5 home), 17 on Wednesday (9 home), seven on Thursday (3 home), 17 on Friday (7 home), 11 on Saturday (7 home), and nine on Sunday (3 home).

Over the course of the season, the Rockets will face each NBA team at least once at home and once on the road, including Western Conference opponents twice both home and away, except for the following: L.A. Clippers (1 home, 2 road), L.A. Lakers (2 home, 1 road), Portland (1 home, 2 road), and Utah (2 home, 1 road).

ROOT SPORTS™ is the television home of the Houston Rockets and Houston Astros. The network reaches approximately 4.2 million households across five states and delivers more than 250 live events each year- all of which are available in high definition. ROOT SPORTS Southwest is owned and operated by AT&T Sports Networks, which also operates regional sports networks in the Northwest, Pittsburgh and Rocky Mountain regions. The four networks combined reach approximately 13 million households across 22 states and own exclusive rights to produce and distribute live events from more than 25 teams and conferences.