Houston Rockets aim for new heights this season
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Dillon Brooks and Alperen Sengun are all smiles ahead of Wednesday's regular season tip off. Photo: Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images
The Rockets tip off a promising NBA season this week.
Why it matters: For Houston, it's where the rubber meets the road.
The big picture: After years of rebuilding, the Rockets are primed to capitalize on last season's 41-41 finish, their best in four years.
Driving the news: Houston hosts the Charlotte Hornets in the Toyota Center on Wednesday, the first of 82 regular season games in the 2024-25 season.
- The Rockets are offering a $25 opening-night ticket package that includes a seat and two drinks.
Catch up quick: After trading James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets in 2021, the team diverged from trying to attract big-ticket contracts to growing a team nearly from scratch.
- Guard Jalen Green, center Alperen Sengun and forward Jabari Smith Jr. have all played in Houston for their entire young careers, forging the team's turnaround.
- Those three are joined by two veterans, forward Dillon Brooks and guard Fred VanVleet, as the starting five this year.
Between the lines: Tilman Fertitta, now in his seventh year owning the team, has high expectations for this year's squad.
- Fertitta touted the team in September when unveiling a new $75 million practice center for players in Uptown.
What they're saying: "We plan on winning more than one or two," Fertitta said at the center's grand opening. "The point is we're very young. There's high expectations. But to be great, we have to get a little older. We're expecting a great year."
If you go: Tipoff is at 7pm Wednesday.
- Space City Home Network will broadcast.