It’s Thursday, December 26, and the Houston Rockets (20-9) and New Orleans Pelicans (5-25) are all set to square off from Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The Rockets are currently 9-5 on the road with a point differential of +7, while the Pelicans have a 2-8 record in their last ten games at home.

The Rockets (-7.5) are now at No. 2 in the Western Conference standings, while the injury ravaged Pelicans are mired in last place.

Winners of five of their last six games, the Houston Rockets continue their campaign as one of the league’s biggest surprises on Thursday night against the Pelicans. Despite its youth, the Rockets are 20-9 on the season,

It’s time for the Houston Rockets to get greedy. When the team lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinals, we all looked at the schedule and said, “There’s four games against bad teams then a difficult homestand.