Houston Rockets Game Day: Rockets Look to Blaze New Trails

Jan 25, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Houston Rockets forward Josh Smith (5) and Houston Rockets guard Corey Brewer (33) in the second half of the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Rockets won 99-87. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Bench:

On the year neither team has been relying on their bench and have ranked at the bottom for scoring and point differential. The notable difference has been since Corey Brewer and Josh Smith joined the Rockets. Specifically in the last ten games Portland has sunk to rank 29th in bench scoring (23.3) whereas Houston have climbed to top 10 in scoring with 35.9 per game.

With Robin Lopez back though this returns players to Portlands’ bench so we could see a better scoring effort with the change. Neither team has a positive scoring margin on the season or in the last 10-games.

It’s no wonder both starting line-ups are ranked in the top 10 given their bench scoring deficiencies: Houston rank 5th (+11.6) in differential while Portland rank 7th (+10.6) while the Blazers rank 2nd in scoring (77.1) and Rockets rank 4th (75.4)

As has been the case for most of their opponent match-ups Houston ranks higher in –  out of paint scoring: 5th with 66.3 points compared to Portland who rank 19th with 58.1 points. Conversely Portland rank 5th inside the paint with 44.4 points while Houston is 21st scoring 36.6 points and without Howard playing these numbers will surely drop.

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• Houston Rockets: The case for, and against, trading Christian Wood
• NBA Rumors: Why the Houston Rockets shouldn’t trade up to no. 1 in NBA Draft
• 3 players that would be a perfect fit for the Houston Rockets at 23 or 24

Walking Wounded:

Portland:

• Joel Freeland is out with a right shoulder strain

Houston:

• Trevor Ariza is dealing with a sore neck (right upper cervical strain). He started day listed as probable and has been upgraded to: will play.

• Terrence Jones is also listed as probably with continuing issues with his left leg and the nerve inflammation

• Dwight Howard listed as out indefinitely (however it’s projected to be a Month which takes us through to March 4)

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