Rockets Forecast: February 15
The Rockets should have enjoyed their nice long All-Star break because every game from here on out matters. It’s that time of year that every team that is in playoff contention is going go be playing harder, making some trades to improve, or just letting go of this current season and begin to prepare for the future. This is what we call the time period when you separate the contenders from the pretenders. The Rockets are currently two games behind Portland for the eighth and final seed for the Western Conference’s bracket of the playoffs. So it should be interesting to see what they can do. The Rockets have 4 games this week so let’s go ahead and get started with our weekly forecast.
February 16, 2010 vs Utah Jazz (32-19)
Heading into the All-Star break the Jazz were one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Having won nine of their last ten games, they will look to continue to stay on that pace. So the Rockets will likely have their hands full. I really like the match-up of Deron Williams and Aaron Brooks. Both of these guys are critical to their respective team’s success and whoever plays better between these two will likely lead their team to victory,
February 17, 2010 @ Milwaukee Bucks (24-27)
This will be a very important game for both teams simply because they are both trying to make a playoff push in their conferences. Milwaukee needs Brandon Jennings to step up and play like he did at the beginning of the season in order for them to make a legitimate run. While the point guards will undoubtedly heavily influence this game, the big men will be the deciding factor. Landry and Scola have been very effective in scoring and out-working their opponents. Nevertheless, Andrew Bogut has been playing beastly of late. In the month of January the Aussie put up averages of 17.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks. Containing Bogut will be crucial in seeing to it that the Rockets escape Milwaukee with a solid victory in their back pocket.
February 20, 2010 vs Indiana Pacers (18-34)
The Pacers continue to struggle and fail to get Danny Granger any real help to make a playoff push. This team has some nice pieces but they struggle as a unit. The Rockets need to take full advantage of this one and I assure you they will. It’s little games like this that mean so much because they teach you things and they make your team better. It will be interesting to see how Trevor Ariza and Danny Granger match-up.
February 21, 2010 @ New Orleans (28-25)
Not only is this a Southwest divisional rival but both teams looking to make the playoffs. What’s not to like? It’s probably going to be the toughest game of the week for the Rockets but Chris Paul is out with injury and in all likelihood, the Hornets will start to fade away from the playoff picture. Nonetheless this Hornets team is not to be overlooked. They still have David West and Emeka Okafor down low and youngsters Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton have played tremendously in CP3’s absence.
Weekly Prediction: 3-1
I’m thinking this will be a nice week for the Rockets and get them on the right track to begin their playoff push. The only game I believe that they will lose is against a very hot Jazz team. But all in all, Rockets fans, this will be a good week for the Rockets and who knows we might see T-Mac traded too.
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