Despite their already unprecedented success this season, the Houston Rockets look to make another mark in NBA history as they chase one of the most difficult records in the league.
With their final two back-to-back sets scheduled on March 31 and April 10, the Rockets have a chance to match the best all-time record for back-to-back games without rest.
At the moment the Texas-based franchise has a 13-1 record for back-to-back games played this season. In the seven occasions that they’ve played in two consecutive evenings, they’ve only lost once and won 13 contests.
Given how grueling the NBA schedule is for all teams, this is definitely a remarkable record. In fact, a similar feat has only been accomplished twice in the past – in 2013 by the Miami Heat and in 2007 by the Dallas Mavericks, per Basketball-Reference.com. On both occasions, the teams ended their seasons with a 15-1 back-to-back games record. No team has ever achieved a perfect back-to-back record throughout an entire season, as shown in this chart.
A related issue that has recently been a hot topic is how players are sitting out games for rest purposes. This is a trend that has developed over the past few years and a majority of teams have gotten on the bandwagon.
This is not the case for the Rockets and franchise player James Harden who has even stated that he is not a believer of this practice. The five-time All-Star has yet to miss a single game this season with already 71 games played. Moreover, The Beard has only missed a total of one regular season game for the Rockets in the past three seasons, including this year.
The record is theirs for the taking, but it won’t be a walk in the park by all means. The first back-to-back set will be against the playoff-chasing Portland Trail Blazers followed by the top-seeded Golden State Warriors. On April 10 they are slated to face the L.A. Clippers in their second-to-last game of the regular season; this will be preceded by a matchup against the Sacramento Kings the previous night.
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