Houston Rockets vs. New Orleans Pelicans game preview: injury report, betting odds, how to watch, TV, online

It shouldn’t have been this way for the New Orleans Pelicans.

After a season in which they finally got a healthy Zion Williamson (until the fourth quarter of their first play-in game, of course), the Pels thought they had “made the jump.” After all, they finished as many games ahead of Houston (eight) as they did behind the top seed in the West. They had pillows. They had momentum. Time to go!

They traded Dyson Daniels (almost a guaranteed All-Defense player this season) and two first-round picks for Dejounte Murray, who promptly broke his hand in the season opener. And that was just the beginning. Zion has missed all but six games with a hamstring strain. CJ “There will be no more layups” McCollum missed 13 games with an adductor injury. And now Brandon Ingram is out with an ankle.

The Pelicans have played 27 games. They don’t have a single player who played in all 27 games. Only four appeared in 20 or more games. Houston has five players who have played in every game and three over 20+. Your season is right there. There’s a reason Daniels called the Pelicans “cursed” last week.

For the Houston Rockets, their schedule is finally clearing up a bit. After eight straight games against teams with playoff aspirations, Houston has a nice four-game stretch to refocus and improve. That starts tonight against a wounded but strong Pelicans team. Murray and McCollum give them a chance every night, and Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy III and Yves Missi are the only untouchables in the trade rumors. Still, these were the games Houston somehow managed to lose last season. We’ll see if they’ve evolved from back then.

We’ll be in the playback room tonight, so you should stop by to watch the Rockets and talk about the game. Remember, we get a handful of VIP passes that we distribute to anyone who wants to watch the game. No League Pass necessary!

Tip

7pm CT

Here’s how to watch

Space City home network and playback

Injury report

Rockets

None

Pelicans

Brandon Ingram: OUT

Zion Williamson: OUT

Jordan Hawkins: GTD

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl: GTD

Jose Alvarado: GTD

The line (as of this post)

HOU-10

Check here for updates

We look forward because we can

Sunday at the Toronto Raptors