Not Many Home Games Remaining for the Rockets

The Houston Rockets have been a much better home team this season than they have been away from home. The Rockets won 25 home games to just 10 losses as they've protected their homecourt well against opposing teams. They still win more than they lose on the road, but an 18-14 record away from home is a far cry from their elite home record. They won't have many more opportunities to play at home, and some of their remaining home games are against difficult opponents. Houston is looking for better performances on the road to maintain their spot as the second seed in the Western Conference.

Houston has only five remaining home games this season, but it will play a few difficult games at home before the playoffs. Most notably, the Rockets will face the Denver Nuggets twice at home after beating them once already in Denver.

The Nuggets are tied with the Rockets and the Memphis Grizzlies for the second-best record in the Western Conference.

Denver is a difficult team to play against, led by Nikola Jokic. Houston has performed better at home than the Nuggets, but Denver is one of the only teams in the West to have 20 wins at home and on the road. Picking up wins against the Nuggets would go a long way toward securing the second seed, but winning won't be a simple task against a team that performs so well away from home.

Houston will play a few other teams at home such as the Atlanta Hawks and the Oklahoma City Thunder. While a loss to the Thunder might still hurt Houston's position in the standings, it will still have a game against the Utah Jazz to right the ship in one of its last three home games.

The Rockets' home-game success is something to watch before the end of the season, but their success on the road may determine how the Rockets enter the postseason. Houston has eight games on the road, and some are against difficult opponents.

Several high-profile matchups are on the schedule that will show where exactly Houston matches up against other top teams. The Rockets will play against a few other Western Conference contenders that will make it difficult to find victories on the road; not to mention the hostile environments Houston will travel to.

The Rockets will face the likes of the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, and Golden State Warriors as each tries to make a final push for postseason positioning. In the Suns' case, they're looking to make the big dance in general as they sit on the outside looking in.

The Rockets have a tough stretch to get through before the postseason, and they won't have much home-cooking to fuel their performances in the last stretch.