Interpretation of the Rockets new season schedule: What changes does Durant s arrival bring to the Rockets schedule

NBA officially announced the complete schedule of the new season. In the first 34 games, 22 games were away, but 14 of them were played at home in the last 22 games of the season.

In addition, the Rockets have 28 games in the United States throughout the season, tied for the second most in the league with the Timberwolves.

The Rockets' opening match of the new season regular season is against the Thunder on October 22. The Rockets have finally ushered in their Christmas battle since 2019. In this Christmas battle, the Rockets' opponent will be the Lakers, which are the powerful traffic.

We analyze the Rockets' schedule. The league's schedule planning and arrangement for the Rockets indicate the improvement of the Rockets' status and also indicates the arrival of Durant. The Rockets will become one of the most concerned teams in the league as a traffic team.

The biggest change in the Rockets' schedule is the back-to-back in the 25-26 season, from 16 games in the 24-25 season to 14 games. The league reduces the Rockets' back-to-back games, which shows that taking into account the risks brought by Durant's age and reducing the injury effect of missing games in the league's storefront.

The Rockets only fought against the league's powerful teams Thunder, Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Timberwolves and Warriors three times. Of course, it is not counted as two cup games that have not been announced. You should know that the Rockets played 5 times in the regular season last season, and the league intends to reduce the difficulty of the Rockets' schedule. In the first 20 games of the Rockets, there were only 1 3-game away and 1 4-game away in a row, with a total of 11 away games, and there were no back-to-back games. The absolute strong teams against the only opener against the defending champion Thunder, the 14th game against the Nuggets, and the absolute welfare bureau had 4 games, namely, the 3rd game against the Nets, the 10th game against the Wizards, and the 17-18th game against the Jazz. The first phase of the Rockets' schedule is very difficult. The league basically wants the Rockets to establish an absolute lead in the first half of the season, bring absolute topic popularity, and bring more focus battles, thereby bringing more traffic.

The Rockets' 21-41st game, for the Rockets, it is basically the devil schedule of the Rockets' new season. The Rockets may encounter 5 consecutive away games for the first time. Due to the uncertainty of the NBA Cup, such 5 consecutive away games may evolve into 8 consecutive away games at most. The Rockets have 1 3 consecutive away games and a 5 consecutive home game, including 3 back-to-back games, and 3 4-day games.

In terms of the difficulty of these 21 games, there are not many strong teams and weak teams, with most mid-range teams. The league's arrangement only increases the difficulty of the Rockets in terms of schedule.

Rockets have 42-53 games (before the All-Star Game), 5 away and 7 homes, 3 back-to-backs, 1 4 days and 3 games, most of which are strong teams at the middle level.

54-75 games, the Rockets had a three-game away, a four-game away, a five-game host, and 4 back-to-backs. At the same time, 4 4-day and 3 games, there were relatively many strong teams in the Rockets during this period.

76-82 games, the Rockets are 5 homes and 2 away games, 1 back-to-back and 3 games in 4 days, and the teams they face are basically weak teams. The basic logic of the Rockets' schedule arranged by the league is to loosen the front, tight the middle, and loose the end. The start is loose, and the league's arrangement is to attract traffic and attention, as well as discussion for the Rockets. The ending is loose, which is an opportunity for the Rockets to decide the fate of the lower Western teams in the final battle. After all, the estimated strength of the Rockets is basically the strength of the Western Conference giants. In the final battle, the Rockets' chance of taking a step back in Durant is very high, which will determine the fate of the team in the playoffs.

The biggest test against the Rockets is the 21 games from December to mid-January. The schedule of this stage will be very intensive, and the opponent is relatively strong. The difficulty of the subsequent schedule is relatively moderate, especially in the last 20 games, which is relatively stable.

From the league's schedule and planning, it is basically to use the Rockets as a strong team and a popular team to distribute and layout, especially the opening game and Christmas game. The Rockets' first selection in the past five years indicates that the league's resources are tilted towards the Rockets. The difficulty for the Rockets to rush out of the West is declining. The Rockets themselves have become strong teams and become the nightmare of other teams. Of course, the schedule is only objective conditions. The most important thing is to maintain Durant's competitive state and the chemical reaction with the Rockets. This is the moat for the Rockets to maintain their record in the new season.