Houston Rockets: A look at the tougher December schedule

The Rockets, after finishing the month of November 12-1, will look to keep it going into December.

The Houston Rockets (17-4) are coming off of one of their best months in recent history. In December, however, the schedule will get a little tougher.

Houston breezed through November with a 12-1 record. The lone loss was against the Toronto Raptors before Chris Paul returned to the team. Since CP3’s return, the Rockets are a perfect 7-0.

Last month, though the Rockets had an easier schedule, had some good wins. They beat the Cavaliers and since then, Cleveland hasn’t lost. They also blew out the young and overachieving Pacers twice and the strong, defensive Utah Jazz. In fact, every game that the Rockets played in last month, besides the Cleveland one, ended in a blowout.

Let’s look at how the schedule gets a little tougher in December:

The Hard Matchups

The hardest stretch of the month comes around Christmas time for the Rockets. They play Oklahoma City on Christmas Day, Boston a few days later & Washington the night after that. All of them on the road, too. It will be interesting to see how the Rockets play during this part of the month, especially if OKC is improved.

The Rockets also play a hard back-to-back against San Antonio and Milwaukee. Thankfully, both of these games are at home. Both of these teams have the ability to sneak up on the Rockets if they aren’t ready to play. Especially if Kawhi Leonard is back for the Spurs.

The Average Matchups

The Rockets will play a few teams that are sitting at or around .500 at this point in the year. Utah is always a tough matchup with their defense, even if the Rockets blew them out already this year.

The Pelicans are a team that can dominate in the paint if the Rockets let them. Clint Capela and Ryan Anderson will have to play great defense against Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.

Dwight Howard revenge games normally don’t go well for Houston, so we’ll see how Charlotte does in the middle of the month. He had 19 points and 16 rebounds in their loss against the Rockets earlier this season.

The “Easy” Matchups

No game for the Rockets this month should be considered “easy,” but these are the closest to it. The Rockets will play the Lakers three times, once to begin the month and once to end it and once in the middle. They are coming off a game where they took the Warriors to overtime. Hopefully, the Rockets don’t overlook them and their 8-13 record.

The Clippers are another team that the Rockets should take care of easier than others. They will be without Blake Griffin and Patrick Beverley at least. Will DeAndre Jordan be in LA when the Rockets play them on the 22nd?

Full Schedule

Let’s take a look at the December schedule as a whole:

#Rockets schedule gets much tougher in December. Can't wait to see how the team fares as opponent quality increases pic.twitter.com/T9aKaAiZCA

— Eric Spyropoulos (@EricSpyrosNBA) November 30, 2017

How do you think the Rockets will do in December? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

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