Rockets Boast the League's 12th-Hardest Schedule in January

The Houston Rockets have hit a skid. Better yet, they’ve hit rock bottom.

Especially as it pertains to beating non-contending teams. The Rockets have suffered recent losses to the Portland Trail Blazers (not once, but twice) and got beat by the Dallas Mavericks earlier in the month.

As a side note, the Rockets are 1-2 against Dallas on the season. Even without Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.

On Sunday, the Rockets dropped another game to the Sacramento Kings, who boast a 9-30 record.

The Rockets failed to gain an advantage on the glass, which is generally a recipe for disaster. The Kings actually outrebounded them, albeit by a small 45-44 edge. The Kings had 18 offensive rebounds in the game, nearly doubling their average of 10.4, which ranks 23rd.

All told, Sacramento averages 30 rebounds per game, which is the league’s second-fewest.

And Demar DeRozan hit shots with an insanely high degree of difficulty. Even when well-defended.

Houston dropped to seventh in the Western Conference, at 22-14. And it gets worse.

Houston hasn’t even ran into the more daunting part of their January slate of games.

Houston still has the Oklahoma City Thunder on tap (this week), followed by the Minnesota Timberwolves the very next day.

Later in the month, the Rockets face the San Antonio Spurs twice, in an eight-day span.

The Spurs rank second in the West at 27-12.

The Rockets will also face the Detroit Pistons again next week, who rank first in the Eastern Conference with a 28-10 record.

All in all, the Rockets’ strength of schedule this month ranks as the 12th-toughest, according to John Schuhmann of NBA.com.

By comparison, the Rockets had the league’s easiest schedule in the month of December. Yet and still, Houston posted a 7-6 record last month.

As it pertains to this month, the Rockets have eight more home games and three more road games.

Their lost against the Sacramento Kings wrapped up their most recent three-game road stretch on the West Coast.

Starting with Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, the Rockets will have five consecutive home games.

This month, the Rockets are 1-4 on the road, with the Rockets’ only victory coming against the Brooklyn Nets.

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