Houston opens preseason against Dallas twice this week, then faces Oklahoma City before closing camp and meeting the Mavericks again on opening night. The eighteen-man roster carries no one on an injury list into any of it, the first clean injury report of training camp.
Right now
Houston carries eighteen healthy bodies into this week, the number set on October 1 when the Rockets waived two-way big man Rafael Castro. No player appears on an injury list entering the preseason slate, the first clean sheet this camp has produced since September's string of day-to-day notices, including the one that followed Steven Adams in and out of the lineup late that month.
Oct 9
The preseason opens at Dallas, broadcast on NBA TV. It is the first of three meetings between these two clubs inside less than two weeks, a scheduling quirk that turns Houston's preseason into an extended audition against the team it will open the real season against on October 21. Udoka will use it to sort rotation spots more than to read the scoreboard.
Oct 11
The Mavericks come to Toyota Center two days later, also on NBA TV, closing the preseason series with Dallas before Udoka's group ever sees another opponent. Back-to-back looks at the same roster give the staff a cleaner read on rotations than a mixed preseason slate usually allows. The back-to-back also previews how deep Udoka is willing to go into his bench with the regular rotation still unsettled.
Oct 15
Oklahoma City visits for the lone non-Dallas tune-up, also on NBA TV. The Thunder reached last season's playoffs on a roster built for pace and length, giving Houston its only preseason look at a team built differently than the one it has spent the week studying. Oklahoma City's pace will test whether Houston's halfcourt habits from two Dallas games hold up against quicker ball movement.
Oct 21
The regular season opens at home against Dallas, the third meeting with the Mavericks in twelve days and the only one that counts. Whatever Udoka settles on by October 15 is what the Rockets will carry into the opener against an opponent they will have already seen twice. That familiarity is the one edge preseason actually buys a team going into opening night.
When do the Rockets play preseason games this week?
Houston plays Dallas twice this week, October 9 on the road and October 11 at home, both on NBA TV.
Is any Rockets player currently injured?
No, the Rockets enter the week with no one listed on an injury report, and the roster stands at eighteen players after Rafael Castro's October 1 waiver.
