by Adam Wexler – Houston TV and Radio Personality
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Rockets (41-18) at Atlanta Hawks (47-12), Tue, Mar. 3Houston thought they caught a break with Jeff Teague missing the first meeting this season, but the Rockets still lost to the Hawks by seven at Toyota Center. Surprisingly, the only player to top 20 points in the game was Kyle Korver with 22 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three. Atlanta is second in the NBA in 3-point shooting (38.4 percent), but the Rockets counter with the league's best defense against the 3-pointer (31.5 percent). The Hawks and Rockets are both in the top ten in defensive rating (Hawks 5th, Rockets 7th), making it unlikely this will be an up-tempo, high scoring affair. Terrence Jones has been outstanding since his return to the starting lineup, averaging 18.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 60 percent from the floor.
Memphis Grizzlies (42-16) vs Rockets (41-18), Wed, Mar. 4This is the final meeting between the top two teams in the southwest division. They swapped lopsided wins early in the year before Houston won an overtime thriller in Memphis on the day after Christmas in Josh Smith’s first game as a member of the Rockets. James Harden consistently upped his production in the three meetings by scoring 6, 21 and 32 points respectively. His effectiveness steadily increased as well as he shot 1-8 from the field in the first meeting, 6-11 in the second, and finally 10-17 in the third contest. He grabbed eight rebounds and had 10 assists in the third game, after failing to reach six in either category in the previous meetings. Memphis' offense has been struggling lately. They have scored less than 100 points in all but five of their last 18 games while recording more than 103 points only once in that stretch. Marc Gasol's 29 points against the Rockets in December marks the only 20-point performance in the season series by the Grizzlies. Additionally, no player for Memphis has snared double-figure rebounds in any of the three games.
Detroit Pistons (23-36) vs. Rockets (41-18), Fri, Mar. 6The Rockets played one of their poorest games of the season in a 114-101 loss at Detroit, allowing the Pistons to shoot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the 3-point line. The Rockets were without Dwight Howard and were outrebounded by the Pistons. Expect a similar outcome with Andre Drummond (16 rebounds) and Greg Monroe (12 rebounds) set to take advantage again. Houston was also hurt badly by D. J. Augustin, who has since been traded for new starting point guard, Reggie Jackson. In two games against Houston while with the Thunder, Jackson averaged 15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5 assists. However, Detroit doesn't really have much in terms of defending Harden, who could easily duplicate or surpass his 26 point, nine assist, seven rebound output from their first match-up.
Rockets (41-18) at Denver Nuggets (20-39), Sat, Mar. 7The Nuggets are fading fast, losing all but two games (2-19) since February 1. It doesn't bode well for Denver that the Rockets beat them twice prior to their recent swoon. Harden has had a field day against Denver in the two meetings, recording a triple-double (24 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) in one and amassing 41 points and 10 assists in the other. Having traded away defensive stalwarts Timofey Mozgov and Arron Afflalo, the Rockets big men should not face issues at the rim even without Dwight Howard. Ty Lawson has registered at least 12 points and 12 assists in each of his last three games against Houston, including a 28 point, 17 assist effort in 2013.
Rockets (41-18) at Portland Trail Blazers (39-19), Wed, Mar. 11Following a disappointing playoff series last season, Harden has come out firing against the Blazers by scoring 44 and 45 points in the two meetings this season. He's made 31 free throws while recording 12 rebounds, 15 assists and 7 steals in the two games combined. Surprisingly, neither Damian Lillard nor LaMarcus Aldridge has exploded against the Rockets yet this season. Aldridge missed the first meeting but posted 24 points and a pedestrian five rebounds in the Blazers 11 point win at Houston last month . Lillard is averaging 20.5 points but just four assists per game, making only 1 of his 10 three point attempts against the Rockets. There will be a lot of shots launched from behind the arc in the this game as Houston has made 13 3-pointers in each meeting, while the Blazers have made 10 in both.
Rockets (41-18) at Utah Jazz (23-35), Thu, Mar. 12Despite 19 turnovers per contest, Houston has managed a pair of wins against Utah this season, at least partially due to Utah’s reckless ball-handling as well. Utah has conceded 45 turnovers in the two contests, highlighted by a 31 turnover performance in January. Utah's defense has been strong most of the year and continues to trend well since trading away Enes Kanter and giving more minutes for shot-blocking fiend Rudy Gobert. Utah closed out February by holding their last ten opponents to 100 points or fewer. They almost always dictate pace, which leads to lower scoring games. Utah has shot 3-pointers very poorly against the Rockets (8-35, 22.8 percent), while the Rockets have shot 3-pointers very well against the Jazz (27-61, 44.2 percent). Gordon Heyward has scored less than 10 points in each game against the Rockets, having made just 5-of-21 shots from the field.
Rockets (41-18) at Los Angeles Clippers (40-21), Sun, Mar. 15Presumably you've been paying attention to DeAndre Jordan since Blake Griffin has been out of the lineup. He has averaged a monstrous 16.2 points and 19.3 rebounds per game in the first nine contests that Griffin has missed. In that span, he has posted a 24 point, 20 rebound game and a 22 point, 19 rebound effort against the Rockets. Houston has also struggled at the rim against Jordan, who affects nearly every shot in the restricted area when he is in the game. Corey Brewer has scored 20 points or more off the Rockets bench in each of his two games against the Clippers since joining Houston. Harden scored 21 points and had 10 assists in a Rockets win on February 25, but has struggled shooting the ball against the Clippers. He's made just 32 percent of his shots in three games.