Inside The Rockets

Houston Rockets Lead NBA With 16 Back-to-Back Contests in 2024-25

The NBA revealed each team's schedule for the upcoming season on Thursday that will see Houston and four other franchises playing 16 games back-to-back.

Randall Sweet

Mar 10, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28)
Mar 10, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
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On Thursday, the NBA revealed its full schedule for the 2024-25 regular season.

The schedule release came with a number of interesting storylines for Houston, including the Rockets playing in a league-high 16 back-to-back contests this year.

Back-to-backs require a team to play two games in as many days, which can be difficult after late night games, especially when traveling on the road. Fortunately for Houston, the Rockets a young roster that should be able to handle playing on consecutive nights better than more veteran-laden teams would.

Alongside Ime Udoka's squad, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards are all set to play 16 back-to-back games in the coming season.

Houston's first back-to-back comes early in the year, as the team takes on Memphis at home in its second game of the season before traveling to San Antonio for a contest the next evening. With Ja Morant healthy again in Memphis and the Spurs adding Chris Paul to flank reigning Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, both matchups could be challenging for the Rockets.

In November, Houston will travel to Detroit for a Nov. 10 afternoon meeting with the Pistons before welcoming the Washington Wizards to Toyota Center the next night. A week later, the Rockets will meet Chicago on Sunday and Milwaukee on Monday in back-to-back road games.

Just five days after playing the Bulls and Bucks, the Rockets will play a baseball-style series against Portland in Houston, meaning the two teams will square off in the same city in consecutive days.

Following a three-day break after their two meetings with the Trail Blazers, Alperen Sengun and company will travel to Minnesota and Philadelphia for a competitive back-to-back against two teams who should be at the top of their conference standings this season.

A month later, the Rockets will travel to Charlotte and Toronto on consecutive days to take on the Hornets and Raptors, two teams Houston should be able to handle, even on the road. The Rockets will finish their three-game road trip in New Orleans before welcoming Minnesota to the Toyota Center the next night.

Houston's first back-to-back of 2025 will also come on the road when the Rockets journey to Denver and Sacramento for two high-profile matchups that could have playoff seeding implications.

In early February, Udoka and company will play a back-to-back in The Big Apple when Houston takes on the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets. Four days later, the Rockets will head to Dallas before hosting Toronto on consecutive nights followed by another back-to-back on the road against Phoenix and Golden State just three days after.

Later in the month, the Rockets will hit the road for another back-to-back, this time against Milwaukee and San Antonio with the latter being broadcast on ESPN. In early March, Houston will travel to Oklahoma City and Indiana on consecutive nights for matchups against two teams who were competitive in the playoffs in 2024.

The Rockets' penultimate back-to-back will come March 14-15, when the team will host the Mavericks and Bulls on consecutive nights. Finally, Houston will travel to Phoenix and Los Angeles for NBA TV matchups against the Suns and Lakers March 30-31.

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Randall Sweet

RANDALL SWEET

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