{"id":159714,"date":"2025-09-21T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T13:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=159714"},"modified":"2025-09-20T23:52:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T03:52:32","slug":"circled-games-for-the-houston-rockets-2025-26-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/21\/circled-games-for-the-houston-rockets-2025-26-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Circled Games For The Houston Rockets&#8217; 2025-26 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The start of the 2025-26 NBA season is only a month away on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/team\/schedule\/_\/name\/hou\/seasontype\/2\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 21st<\/a>. That&#8217;s when the Houston Rockets will face the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder. With the Rockets&#8217; key offseason addition being the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/17\/rockets-thunder-a-soap-opera-nba-rivalry\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">most hated man in Oklahoma<\/a>, it&#8217;s a matchup that will be <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/09\/thunder-vs-rockets-season-opener-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">hard to top<\/a>. But what other key dates should Rockets fans be looking forward to?<\/p>\n<h2>Circled Games For The Houston Rockets&#8217; 2025-26 Season<\/h2>\n<h3>An Aegean Addendum<\/h3>\n<p>A recent addition to Houston&#8217;s must-watch games list is their first encounter with the Milwaukee Bucks. That will be an away game on November 9th.<\/p>\n<p>Without venturing into the murky Aegean waters of international politics, there was <a href=\"https:\/\/greekreporter.com\/2025\/09\/17\/giannis-sengun-mend-greece-turkey-feud-eurobasket\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">discord<\/a> this offseason between the franchises&#8217; stars. In strictly basketball terms, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sengual01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alperen Sengun<\/a>&#8216;s Turkish national team defeated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>&#8216;s Greek side in the EuroBasket semifinals. That&#8217;s enough to provoke a \u201crevenge game\u201d addendum from the Greek Freak right there.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Still perfect! T\u00fcrkiye \ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddf7 back in the #EuroBasket Final after 24 years after beating Greece \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddf7\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CdtPfJ1oClI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Every Giannis game will be a must-watch affair this season already. With the Bucks&#8217; front office struggling to surround him with contender-level talent, his historic Milwaukee tenure seemingly hangs in the balance (though he <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/24\/giannis-antetokounmpo-has-made-decision-on-his-bucks-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">says otherwise<\/a>). If he happens to have a little more in store for Sengun and the Rockets, then all the better. Rockets fans will be used to that anyway, considering Giannis&#8217; previous &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2019\/11\/03\/mvp-wars-giannis-antetokounmpo-vs-james-harden\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">beef<\/a>&#8221; with former Rockets icon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hardeja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Harden<\/a>. Sengun is merely continuing the tradition.<\/p>\n<h3>Houston&#8217;s Former Favorite Son<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a>&#8216;s former team, the Phoenix Suns, probably elicits minimal ire from the Slim Reaper. Sure, Durant may have some resentment about how his Phoenix era was handled. An ill-conceived trade for the catatonically conceived <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bealbr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bradley Beal<\/a> contract left the team in shackles. They shambled to a 36-46 record last season. Ultimately, though, Phoenix gave Durant what he wanted: a free ticket to his destination of choice.<\/p>\n<p>In an away game on November 24th, and even more so a Rockets home game on December 5th, the fireworks are more likely to come from the other side. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greenja05.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Green<\/a>&#8216;s entire NBA career up till this season has been as a Houston Rocket. He was drafted second overall by the franchise in 2021 and even signed a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/21\/rockets-sign-jalen-green-first-kind-contract-extension\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">first-of-its-kind extension<\/a> with them last offseason. Then, albeit to no one&#8217;s surprise, he was unceremoniously traded for the mercenary services of Durant.<\/p>\n<p>The quality of Green&#8217;s performance in this game is impossible to predict. He could torch the Rockets for forty, rediscover the three-point stroke that occasionally made him look like an All-Star, and put draft buddy Sengun on a poster that would be plastered over every wall in the Philippines. Or he could float around on the perimeter, throw up a few confused circus shots, and idly watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bookede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devin Booker<\/a> get mugged by the Rockets&#8217; cadre of brawlers\/defenders. Whatever the performance winds up being, Rockets fans will be sure not to miss it.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jalen Green Makes Rockets History &amp; Ties CAREER-HIGH 42 PTS (72.2 FG%) | January 13, 2025\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SmdEUfGYnTY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Harking Back To Durant&#8217;s Golden Days<\/h3>\n<p>Last but not least, the Golden State Warriors will await the Rockets in an away game on November 26th. Last season, the Rockets were finally able to squash their <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/12\/nobody-beats-alperen-sengun-16-times-in-a-row\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">ugly 15-game losing streak<\/a> against the Warriors. Any hope of that turning a new leaf in Rockets-Warriors relations proved barren. The Warriors would go on to send the Rockets home from their <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/04\/rockets-game-7\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">post-rebuild playoff debut<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Also adding to the drama of this matchup is the presence of Durant. It&#8217;d be difficult for a franchise to feel too much animosity towards a player who won two Finals MVPs with them. But then, the way some Warriors fans see it, those awards should by all rights be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a>&#8216;s. Still, Durant is the one who still has something to prove versus his former teammates. He hasn&#8217;t won since he walked out on them, and he&#8217;s now on his third nominal contender. There&#8217;ll be something in this one for the Rockets fans and the Durant fans alike.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kevin Durant 2017 Finals MVP FULL SERIES HIGHLIGHTS\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gW6dL9RZdyY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>An honorable mention also has to go to November 30th. That will be the Rockets&#8217; first chance to beat the brakes off of the tanking Utah Jazz, always a highlight for the diehard Rockets fan. It&#8217;s also a good representation of &#8220;any random NBA game&#8221;, which is what most basketball fans would settle for around about now. Still, the Rockets have some doozies to look forward to in 2025-26. These circled games can&#8217;t come soon enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The start of the 2025-26 NBA season is only a month away on October 21st. That&#8217;s when the Houston Rockets will face the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder. With the Rockets&#8217; key offseason addition being the most hated man in Oklahoma, it&#8217;s a matchup that will be hard to top. But what other key dates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5223,"featured_media":159752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,25,31,15,62,28],"tags":[4293,306,3256,69,48],"class_list":["post-159714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-rockets","category-bucks","category-nba","category-suns","tag-alperen-sengun","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-jalen-green","tag-kevin-durant","tag-stephen-curry"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159714"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159753,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159714\/revisions\/159753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}