Houston Rockets: Chris Paul out vs. the Suns for rest

The Houston Rockets will look to start a new winning streak after having the previous one snapped by the Warriors on Wednesday night. They’ll be without their star point guard as they try to do so.

The Houston Rockets dropped a tough game last time out to the defending champion Golden State Warriors. A fiery comeback at the end wasn’t enough as the team dropped the game by two points and their nine-game winning streak was gone.

The team will have a chance to start a new one as they face the Phoenix Suns tonight in Houston. They won’t have the services of their star point guard Chris Paul, though, as he will be out for rest.

CP3 was great despite the loss on Wednesday, dropping 24 points on 7/12 shooting. The shooting hasn’t quite been there at points this year, but the way he controls the game for the Rockets is unlike anyone else. He’s an extremely valuable part of this team, to say the least.

The minutes

Eric Gordon will start at shooting guard tonight with Chris Paul out and also expect Austin Rivers to play a few more minutes. Rivers played just 20 minutes in the loss to the Warriors but was decent on defense.

Danuel House Jr. should also be making his much-anticipated return tonight for the squad. He had his contract converted the other day but did not play against Golden State. He should bring some serious energy and shooting to the Rockets much like he did in his first stint earlier in the season.

Don’t underestimate Phoenix

One thing the Rockets cannot afford to do is lose this game. As they try to climb in the standings, games against the worst team in the conference are must-wins. However, it won’t come easy.

The Suns have been competing with some of the top teams in the league over the past few weeks and aren’t an easy win right now. They beat the top seeds in both conferences, the Bucks and the Warriors, in the same week and also beat the Lakers (if that’s an impressive win these days).

They most recently got blown out by the Jazz, but the Suns are certainly capable of surprising a team if they aren’t ready to play. Kelly Oubre Jr. has been a great addition for them and it’ll be a fun game to watch tonight, hopefully, if the Rockets are prepared.