OKC Thunder: Ranking difficulty of seeding schedules for all 22 teams
8th) Rockets -Cumulative opponent win total: 304
Seeding Game Record: 4-4, fifth seed, will play OKC Thunder
- Rockets 153 – Mavericks 149 (July 31)
- Rockets 120 – Bucks 116 (August 2)
- Blazers 110 – Rockets102 (August 4)
- Rockets 113 – Lakers -97 (August 6)
- Rockets 129 – Kings 112 (August 9)
- Spurs 123 – Rockets 15 (August 11)
- Pacers 108 – Rockets 104 (August 12)
- 76ers 134 – Rockets 96 (August 14)
Houston faces some tough tests especially early with the Mavericks in Game 1 who they have a 1.5 game edge over. Dallas won’t want to play the Clippers so expect the Mavericks to come out gunning. The Bucks and Lakers may not be invested in pushing too hard, however, facing them earlier rather than later isn’t ideal.
Portland, as we’ve noted, is invested in winning so they’ll be dialed in. Facing the Kings and Spurs in Games 5 and 6 may not be early enough for either squad to know if they are out of the running for the play-in seed. Likewise, the last two games on tap are against two squads who begin the restart in a virtual tie and want to finish ahead of the other to avoid playing the third seed.
Like the Celtics, the Rockets are favorites of the TV folks who give them six out seven matches on national TV.