Houston Rockets: Analyzing the 2017-18 schedule

With each NBA team’s 2017-18 schedule being released, what are the big games, road trips, and more for the Houston Rockets in the upcoming season?

Even though August represents the dog days of the offseason for the majority of NBA fans, there are days filled with joy as everyone prepares for the 2017-18 season. One of those days came on Monday when each team’s full schedule was released.

We already knew who the Houston Rockets would open the season against (the Golden State Warriors) and who they would play on Christmas (the Oklahoma City Thunder), but now we know when they’re tough road trips will be, the important home stands, and more.

Last season the Rockets opened with the majority of their games coming on the road. That, in addition to Patrick Beverley’s injury led to a (on the surface) mediocre start at 6-5. This year, Houston faces a similar road-heavy opening set of games, with seven of their first ten games away from home.

However, their opponents are much easier than last year’s opening weeks. Included in the first ten games are teams such as the Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks.

Before we further analyze the schedule, here it is in one tweet for your viewing convenience:

Two things jump out right off the bat. The first is an extremely long home stand from December 11 to the 22nd. When you factor that the first road game after the home stand is against the Thunder (a short travel from Houston), the Rockets will have ample time during December to get comfortable, rest and recover.

The other aspect that stands out is the number of national television games. Of course, with the Rockets coming off a 55 win season and adding Chris Paul (among others), it was expected that national audiences would see more of the Rockets. However, did people expect 40 of Houston’s 82 games to be on national TV?

If you were planning on buying NBA League Pass to watch the Rockets, don’t do it.

The Rockets avoided extended road trips for the most part, with their longest trip away from home lasting four games. However, there’s a trap in late February and early March, where Houston will play 10 of 13 on the road with home game against the Boston Celtics in between. Again, last season the Rockets somewhat fell off starting in mid-January, it will be interesting to see if they can maintain their momentum throughout the entire year.

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In the end, the Rocket have a fairly balanced schedule. There are always ups and downs we can’t predict about an 82 game regular season, making some of this analysis mute. However, less back-to-backs and more strategic rest for key players should allow the Rockets to maintain a consistent level of play throughout the entire season.