Perfect at 5-0, the Rockets Get a Texas Weekend: Friday in Dallas to Open the NBA Cup, Saturday Home Against the Thunder
Houston's perfect start runs straight into a back-to-back - a Cup opener in Dallas on Friday night, then Oklahoma City at Toyota Center on Halloween - with two starters day to day and a third still out.
HOUSTON - Five games, five wins, and no soft landing ahead. The Rockets, 5-0 after Wednesday's 132-100 rout in Milwaukee, come home to Texas for the season's first back-to-back: Friday night at Dallas, where the game opens Emirates NBA Cup group-stage play for both teams, and Saturday night at Toyota Center against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Wednesday showed what this team does at full throttle even while short-handed. Fred VanVleet erupted in the second half, Amen Thompson scored 23, Kevin Durant added 18 points with three blocks, and Houston shot 54.8 percent - 44.7 from three - with 12 steals and 10 blocks while holding Milwaukee to 40.2 percent shooting. The Rockets did it without Alperen Sengun (low back soreness), Marcus Smart (left forearm strain) and Steven Adams (right calf strain). Sengun and Smart are day to day and could return very soon, Rockets Wire reported; Adams is expected to miss at least another week.
Friday's tipoff in Dallas is 7 p.m. Central at American Airlines Center, carried on Space City Home Network and NBA League Pass. Then the Rockets turn around and host the Thunder at 7:30 p.m. Saturday - a Halloween-night crowd, the second night of the back-to-back, and the toughest test yet of a perfect start. Boston follows at Toyota Center on Monday.
