The Rockets’ game against the Clippers on Thursday began a stretch of games against teams that could be potential first-round matchups with the Rockets facing the Pelicans and Timberwolves Saturday and Sunday. They play the third-place Trail Blazers in Portland to complete the road trip.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, however, said he not only does not experiment in any way with postseason matchups in mind – which was not surprising because he often said teams match up with the Rockets rather than the other way around – but also does not consider regular-season games particularly useful for gathering information.
