With a tough three-game road trip in the books, the young Houston Rockets begin a stretch of four home games out of their next five, starting with Saturday’s visit from the New York Knicks.
It’s a slightly earlier-than-usual tipoff on Saturday evening at Toyota Center, owing to the New Year’s Eve holiday. As a tradition dating back many years, Houston regularly hosts a New Year’s Eve home game with a 6 p.m. start, which allows fans plenty of time to reach their midnight destinations following the game’s conclusion.
Both the Knicks and Rockets enter with ample incentive to snap their recent slides. New York has lost five straight games, while Houston has dropped seven of its last eight. Neither team is on a back-to-back, so expect both teams to aggressively chase a win to close out 2022.
It’s the first matchup of the 2022-23 season between the teams, with Houston paying its return visit to Madison Square Garden on March 27. Because the Rockets play in the Western Conference and the Knicks in the Eastern Conference, they meet only twice per season.
When and How to Watch
- Date: Saturday, Dec. 31
- Time: 6:00 p.m. Central
- TV Channel: AT&T SportsNet Southwest, NBA League Pass
- Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free in Houston markets)
Probable starting lineups
Houston Rockets (10-25)
- Guard: Kevin Porter Jr.
- Guard: Jalen Green
- Forward: Eric Gordon
- Forward: Jabari Smith Jr.
- Center: Alperen Sengun
New York Knicks (18-18)
- Guard: Miles McBride
- Guard: Quentin Grimes
- Forward: Immanuel Quickley
- Forward: Julius Randle
- Center: Mitchell Robinson
Projected lineups are based on each team’s prior game.
Injury reports
Houston’s injury report lists Jae’Sean Tate (right ankle soreness) as out for Saturday. The Knicks will be without RJ Barrett (lacerated right index finger) and Obi Toppin (non-displaced fracture, right fibula head), while Jalen Brunson (sore right hip) is questionable.
Brunson did not play Thursday when listed with the same status.
