{"id":91196,"date":"2024-08-19T09:26:04","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T13:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=91196"},"modified":"2024-08-19T09:26:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T13:26:04","slug":"2024-25-nba-schedule-rockets-opening-10-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/19\/2024-25-nba-schedule-rockets-opening-10-games\/","title":{"rendered":"2024-25 NBA Schedule: Rockets Opening 10 Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2024-25 NBA schedule has been released, including the Houston Rockets<\/a>. What kind of start are Houston fans in for then? Looking at the team’s first ten games, it’s tempting to divide them into two categories. Five will be against \u201cgood teams\u201d and five will be against \u201cbad teams\u201d. Naturally, such temptations are wont to lead one astray. Good teams don’t win all 82 games in a season after all. And more importantly for the Rockets, bad teams don’t lose all 82 either.<\/p>\n

2024-25 NBA Schedule: Rockets Opening 10 Games<\/h2>\n

The First Oddity In The Rockets’ Schedule<\/h3>\n

The big takeaway from the opening ten games is playing the San Antonio Spurs three times. That’s twice at the Spurs’ Frost Bank Center (just recently changed from the AT&T Center, for those who don’t recognize it), and then once nine days later in Houston.<\/p>\n

San Antonio is one of the \u201cbad teams\u201d. They finished with the fifth-worst record in the NBA last season. They won a grand total of 22 games. Houston, only three places ahead of them in the Western Conference standings, broke even with 41. But these three early games in the Rockets’ schedule should by no means be taken for granted. For one thing, they might actually matter. For another, San Antonio will be better this year. Maybe a lot better.<\/p>\n

The Next Generation of NBA Centers<\/h3>\n

There are two major avenues for improvement for this year’s San Antonio Spurs. The one with long-term implications for the franchise is the development of Victor Wembanyama<\/a>. Already last year’s undisputed Rookie of the Year<\/a>, not to mention a top Defensive Player of the Year<\/a> candidate, it’s inevitable he will have an even more terrifying sophomore campaign. The fact he’s just been hardened by a close-fought<\/a> gold medal game loss to Team USA<\/a> at the Paris Olympics will probably be a contributing factor. Besides that, he was just very raw on offense last season. He won’t suddenly be prime Wilt Chamberlain<\/a> in 2024-25, but Rockets star<\/a> Alperen Sengun<\/a> will probably have a hard time keeping Wembanyama’s long arms away from the rim.<\/p>\n

The proximity of those long arms to the rim will pose even more of a problem for the Rockets on the other end. Houston likes to drive. Houston’s aspiring leader<\/a>, Jalen Green<\/a>, in particular, loves to drive. Houston’s sophomore Amen Thompson<\/a>, problematically, can pretty much only drive<\/a>. Wembanyama will be waiting and ready to swat shots away all night long. He probably won’t have forgotten Sengun’s big night last season either, when the Turk clobbered the Frenchman under the rim.<\/p>\n