To start the season, the Houston Rockets had one of the easiest schedules in the entire league and were hoping to use it to propel themselves to another better season than before.

Unfortunately, that is not how it is removed.

The Rockets are 2-2 so far, having lost extremely winnable games to the Charlotte Hornets in their season opener, and one of two against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

The 82-game season is a long one and Houston will have plenty of opportunities to pick up wins in the future. But a 4-0 start (or 3-1 at the very least) was pretty pivotal in the team’s next five-game stretch, one of the toughest in the league.

To start, the Rockets will face another in-state rival, the Dallas Mavericks, on Thursday, October 31. With superstar Luka Doncic still leading the charge, Dereck Lively seeing some improvements in the offseason and the much-hyped Klay Thompson now signed. It won’t be an easy game, even if it is in the future.

Next up, the Rockets face the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, who could be without Steph Curry due to another ankle injury suffered just a few days ago. He will be re-evaluated on Friday and will obviously be a big domino to the difficulty of that matchup.

On Monday, November 4, Houston faces the new titan of the Eastern Conference, New York, who despite having a 1-2 record at the moment, is still a very feared team with Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.

Houston will quickly see its third matchup of the season against the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 6, before turning around and playing the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 8, likely the toughest game of the next five. in terms of confrontations.

Coming away with more wins than losses in the next five, in any capacity, would be huge for Houston. Winning four or five could propel the team on a hot streak, and poor performances could snowball as the season progresses.

For now, they will focus on teams one at a time to roll out their 2024-25 product.

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