Rockets tickets are cheapest since 2012 on resale market

The Houston Rockets are now enjoying a more up tempo style of play which only makes for a more exciting experience of seeing them play live.

After a regression year that saw them stumble to a 41-41 record and first-round playoff exit, the Houston Rockets enter the 2016-17 NBA season hoping to channel their dominant play from two seasons ago.

They’ll be doing so under new head coach Mike D’Antoni and with a roster now void of Dwight Howard, who failed to mesh with franchise cornerstone James Harden during his three-year tenure in Houston.

For fans, however, change is bringing about more savings, as the new-look team is posting falling ticket demand on the secondary market this season.

On TicketIQ, an online ticket search engine that pools tickets and data from over 90 percent of the secondary market, Houston Rockets tickets during the 2016-17 NBA season are now averaging $144.80. That marks a 9% drop from the team’s $159.29 average at the start of last season. In fact, it is the cheapest season average the Rockets have posted since the 2012-13 season, when tickets were averaging $94.86 at Toyota Center.

Credit that price drop to the Rockets’ step back last year, but it may serve as a bargain for fans with interest in seeing the team at home this season. Several offseason moves have penned the team as an underdog in the playoff hunt, adding to their value should they clinch a fifth straight postseason berth.

The Rockets will play their most expensive home games against the Warriors and Cavaliers this season. They’ll welcome the Warriors in January and March and both games are posting near-identical ticket prices ($385 average/$113 get-in price). The defending champion Cavaliers will be in town on March 12, and their stop in Houston will be the only other game that averages above $300 on the secondary ticket market this season ($349 average/$99 get-in).

On the other side of the coin, games against the 76ers, Blazers, and Nets will be the cheapest Rockets games to attend at Toyota Center. The Sixers travel to Houston on November 14, where tickets currently own a resale average of $65 and start from just $7 each. The Blazers will play the Rockets three days later and own similar demand ($75 average/$9 get-in) while Nets’ visit on December 12 is averaging a $77 ticket and $8 get-in price.