While the All-Stars descend upon Los Angeles for a weekend built on spectacle, the basketball pulse in Houston beats with a different kind of anticipation.
Next Saturday night, the Rockets step onto the sport’s grandest stage, a prime-time meeting with the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. There are regular-season games, and then there are nights when the lights feel warmer and the air feels heavier. This is the latter.
The calendar offers another quiet reminder. April 12 looms. Houston currently sits fourth in the Western Conference. Stay there, and the path likely runs straight through the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. That is not a matchup anyone circles lightly.
The first half of the season has unfolded in layers. There have been convincing wins over Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Denver, flashes that suggest a ceiling worth believing in. There have also been head scratchers, including losses to Sacramento and back to back setbacks against Portland despite 67 combined points from Kevin Durant across those two nights.
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Durant, now 37, continues to age in reverse. He is averaging more than 25 points per game for a 19th consecutive season and sits just 430 points behind Michael Jordan on the NBA’s all time scoring list. Seventeen games or so, and another legend moves down a line.
When Sporting News caught up with Rockets television analyst Ryan Hollins, his tone carried belief.
“The first half showed real progress,” Hollins said. “Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson are finding their stride, and you can see the game slowing down for them. I see their confidence growing and impact expanding on both ends. That internal growth matters as much as anything and their combined foundation only strengthens the Rockets.”
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And the Garden?
“It’s always special,” Hollins said. “Houston will have its star power in KD and Alperen Sengun. The lights there are bright, the energy will feel like the playoffs. It just elevates everything and it’s a matchup truly built for prime time.”
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC. In February, it is just another game on the schedule. In feel, it might be a preview of something bigger.
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