The young Houston Rockets have suddenly won five straight home games and three of four overall. The wins came against a trio of veteran-laden teams: Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Phoenix. Can the rebuilding club extend that run when Jimmy Butler leads Miami into Toyota Center on Thursday night?
The case for optimism is Miami will be on the second night of a road back-to-back after winning Wednesday in Oklahoma City. But Butler didn’t play on the front end, so the case for pessimism is that he’ll be fresh, and Houston should get his best shot on Thursday.
