NBA Schedule: This 8-game stretch will make or break the Rockets' season

Have you scoured the NBA schedule yet?

No? Are you not a diehard Houston Rockets fan? That's fine. We've got you covered here at SpaceCityScoop. We've already looked the schedule up and down. At this point, we'll have it memorized before long.

It's a fruitless endeavor. The schedule is the schedule. We can analyze the difficulty of a team's schedule, but they'll still have to play through it. In the end, stronger teams will be more likely to make the playoffs, and injuries will play a bigger factor in determining the end-of-season standings anyway.

Still, we couldn't help ourselves. We studied the schedule. It caused us senseless anxiety. One section in particular gave us tremendous grief.

Here's the 8-game stretch that could make or break the Rockets' season.

The Rockets will be tested in February

That's tough. It evokes images of the timeless "this is fine" meme.

It is not fine.

Facing the Timberwolves twice in an 8-game stretch is grueling. Granted, we don't know what the Timberwolves will do this year. If they can't replicate last year's success, they could trade Karl-Anthony Towns to balance their books.

Still, the safer assumption is that they'll be formidable. It would be nice if that little anomaly was buried in an otherwise lighter part of the schedule.

Sometimes, the Gods just don't smile at you.

The Rockets face the recent Finalist Mavericks. They'll have had another season to incorporate the players they acquired at least year's deadline. Dallas should be among the best teams in the NBA in 2024-25.

They'll also play the Warriors, the Suns, and the Bucks. Contests with the Raptors and the Jazz soften the blow, but even then, we're not sure how the Jazz will look next year. Having extended Lauri Markkanen, they could opt to trade some assets to improve the team.

Even those "gimme" games are not a given. They both come on the tail end of back-to-backs, and the Utah game is on the road. The All-Star break coincides with this stretch, but the Rockets have to come back and play the Wolves right away.

How will they survive this stretch?

The Rockets will have to sink or swim

By playing as well as they can.

Look - it won't be easy. An NBA season never is. Still, if the Rockets can't survive this stretch, they probably aren't playoff-bound anyway.

They need to beat the Raptors and the Jazz. That's two wins. Out of the remaining six games, they need to come away with two victories. It doesn't matter who they come against. If the Rockets can go .500 over this stretch, they'll have survived the roughest part of their schedule.

Trust us - we've looked.