Rockets vs. Pacers preview: Will the Rockets finish the month 12-1?

The Rockets look to finish the month strong as they face the surprising young Pacers.

The Houston Rockets (16-4) have had one of their best months in recent history so far at 11-1. The lone loss came against a talented Raptors team. Will the team finish the month strong with a win over a young Indy team?

The Indiana Pacers (12-9) are overachieving so far this season. After trading Paul George to the OKC Thunder, they were expected to tank for a good draft pick. However, they are actually outperforming the Thunder at this point in the season. Victor Oladipo is a huge part of that as he is averaging 23 points per game on 47% shooting.

Previous Meeting

These two teams have already met this season earlier in the month. The Rockets blew them out 118-95. Houston was able to slow down the great offense of Indiana with their awesome defense.

James Harden had himself a game then. He finished with 26 points and 15 assists. Oladipo still had 28 points, but Houston was able to shut down just about everyone else on the Pacers.

Injury Report

The main rotation of the Rockets is fully healthy. Hallelujah.

Zhou Qi is still out with a sore calf.

Victor Oladipo is questionable with a bruised right knee. Both Glenn Robinson III and Edmond Sumner are out after surgery.

Projected Starting 5

Rockets

Chris Paul/James Harden/Trevor Ariza/Ryan Anderson/Clint Capela

Pacers

Darren Collison/Victor Oladipo (if he plays)/Bojan Bogdanovic/Thaddeus Young/Myles Turner

Notes

If Victor Oladipo is out for the Pacers, that could spell trouble for them. If he isn’t good to go, look for Lance Stevenson or Cory Joseph to start in his place.

James Harden has the lowest field goal percentage against the Pacers out of any teams in the NBA. He shoots just 38.6% against them. He turned that around last time out with an efficient game vs. the Pacers.

A fun matchup as always will be Clint Capela against Myles Turner. They are two of the most exciting young centers in the league.

The Rockets are up to 7th in Defensive Rating, one spot above the Golden State Warriors. They are one spot behind the Warriors in Offensive Rating at 2nd.

This is the last Rockets game until next Sunday, so watch it up tonight!

How to Watch

The Rockets will be playing at 7 p.m. tonight on AT&T Sportsnet Southwest. The game will be at the Toyota Center in Houston.

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Next: 5 takeaways from the first 20 games.