The Rockets Houston

A Rocket Lab Electron launcher lifted off from the company’s privately-owned launch site in New Zealand at 9:56 p.m. EST Thursday (0256 GMT; 3:56 p.m. New Zealand time on Friday) with the NROL-151 payload for the U.S. government’s National Reconnaissance Office. Credit: Rocket Lab A light-class Electron launcher built and owned by Rocket Lab fired into orbit Thursday (U.S. time) from a privately-owned spaceport in New Zealand with a top secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. The 55-foot-tall (17-meter) rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 — located on Mahia Peninsula on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island — at 9:56 p.m. EST Thursday (0256 GMT; 3:56 p.m. New Zealand time on Friday). A live video stream webcast by Rocket Lab showed the all-black carbon composite launcher climbing into a clear afternoon sky over New Zealand, powered by nearly 50,000 pounds of the thrust from nine kerosene-fed Ruther...

So Xiane has already broken this game down, and I highly recommend you read his take on this one. Luka Doncic is mentioned once or twice, I think. Fortunately for Houston, Doncic will not play due a sprained ankle he sustained on Thursday at practice The Rockets finally return to Houston after what seemed like an eternity on the road but was really just a week. After a 2-2 stretch on a trip that included some tough matchups, Rockets fans should be feeling better about this team. However, the sour taste of the loss in Portland to close out the trip and the disappearance of the James Harden we’ve grown to know and admire have conspired to leave legitimate doubts about the viability of this team as a playoff contender. First, the obvious: something is wrong with Harden, and it started before his thigh contusion in Minnesota. He is not the same Harden that is a perennial MVP candidate, and the sudden dropoff is concerning. Maybe the issue is physical. It’s possible that he’s dealing wi...

As the trade deadline is quickly approaching, the Houston Rockets are in desperate need of a power forward. Who should they target? Let’s take a look. The Houston Rockets went all-in on their title pursuit for the 2020 season when they traded for 2017 NBA MVP Russell Westbrook to pair with James Harden, the 2018 NBA MVP and former teammate with Westbrook in Oklahoma City. Despite the two MVP’s banding together and solidifying Houston’s backcourt, the Houston Rockets still have a major hole to fill if they want to remain among the NBA’s most legitimate title contenders: they must add a three-point shooting power forward. Apart from P.J. Tucker, the Rockets lack another true power forward. Adding a power forward who can shoot from deep would give the Rockets a much-needed floor-spacing big man, which would be a great fit for the small lineup Houston often uses. Let’s take a look at some three-point shooting power forwards that would provide a major boost for Houston. D...

As the trade deadline is quickly approaching, the Houston Rockets are in desperate need of a power forward. Who should they target? Let’s take a look. The Houston Rockets went all-in on their title pursuit for the 2020 season when they traded for 2017 NBA MVP Russell Westbrook to pair with James Harden, the 2018 NBA MVP and former teammate with Westbrook in Oklahoma City. Despite the two MVP’s banding together and solidifying Houston’s backcourt, the Houston Rockets still have a major hole to fill if they want to remain among the NBA’s most legitimate title contenders: they must add a three-point shooting power forward. Apart from P.J. Tucker, the Rockets lack another true power forward. Adding a power forward who can shoot from deep would give the Rockets a much-needed floor-spacing big man, which would be a great fit for the small lineup Houston often uses. Let’s take a look at some three-point shooting power forwards that would provide a major boost for Houston. D...

PORTLAND, Ore. — Takeaways from the Rockets' 125-112 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night: Considering everything, had the Rockets known all that would have occurred over the six days of road games, they probably would've been OK with a 2-2 road trip. Considering it took the shorthanded stunner in Salt Lake City to get there, it could have been a lot worse. Coming home after a loss in which they trailed by 20, however, made it feel as if they were nearly as far from where they want to be as when they left. They covered a lot of miles to leave town 11 games better than .500 and return exactly where they started, especially with the more rested, high-scoring Mavericks — coming off their own bad loss — to be waiting for them. There could be changes in a week with the trade deadline next Thursday. But the Rockets have their rotation back on the floor. They changed their starting lineup to something they can stick with for a while. They have seven games until th...

So Xiane has already broken this game down, and I highly recommend you read his take on this one. Luka Doncic is mentioned once or twice, I think. Fortunately for Houston, Doncic will not play due a sprained ankle he sustained on Thursday at practice The Rockets finally return to Houston after what seemed like an eternity on the road but was really just a week. After a 2-2 stretch on a trip that included some tough matchups, Rockets fans should be feeling better about this team. However, the sour taste of the loss in Portland to close out the trip and the disappearance of the James Harden we’ve grown to know and admire have conspired to leave legitimate doubts about the viability of this team as a playoff contender. First, the obvious: something is wrong with Harden, and it started before his thigh contusion in Minnesota. He is not the same Harden that is a perennial MVP candidate, and the sudden dropoff is concerning. Maybe the issue is physical. It’s possible that he’s dealing wi...

DALLAS - Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic exited Thursday’s practice early after turning his right ankle, coach Rick Carlisle said, and then during the media-access portion of the workout, found himself in discomfort on the trainer's table, as you see in the Noah Bullard video shot for DFW's NBC5. How severe is the ankle issue? Severe enough that Doncic, at 20 an MVP candidate for the contending Mavs, is not making the Thursday trip to Houston for the nationally-televised game against the rival Rockets. Doncic will undergo an MRI, probably on Friday. Coach Rick Carlisle Carlisle made the announcement on the injury and declined to offer more detail on its seriousness, though reports suggest this may be similar to an ankle injury sustained by Doncic earlier this season, which resulted in four missed games. Teammate J.J. Barea told the media after practice that Doncic “stepped on somebody” and “hopefully it’s not that long” that Doncic is sidelined. Additionally, another sta...