Pelicans vs. Rockets: 2 Big Things to Watch
The Houston Rockets will take on its divisional foe New Orleans Pelicans Saturday night - closing out a treacherous four-game road trip.
Making stops in Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves before flying to Orlando to defeat the Magic in an offensive showdown and then flying north of the border to battle the Toronto Raptors in the third game in five days.
Now the Rockets will close out this road trip in its second to last road game before a four-game home stand.
Here are two big things to watch in this Southwest Division showdown.
Can Kevin Porter Jr. Continue Initiating the Offense?
Heading into this four-game road-trip, the Rockets were averaging a league-worst 19.3 assists per game.
And despite posting a 1-2 road record up to this point, the Rockets have flipped the script in that aspect, dishing out 29 assists a game over the three games.
At the forefront of it all is fourth-year guard Kevin Porter Jr., posting back-to-back 11 assist contests to improve his season average to 6.1.
"I thought [Porter] did a great job getting the ball in the paint and making plays for his teammates," coach Stephen Silas said. "How he goes, we go. And he did a good job [Wednesday] night."
Averaging 14.5 points in the last two games, Porter's pass-first mentality has allowed him to focus more on scoring from the mid-range, given that his 3-point shooting has not been consistent over the past week.
In six career games against the Pelicans, Porter has averaged 15.0 points on 40.0 percent shooting and 5.0 assists.
Will New Orleans Big 3 Be Too Much to Handle?
In Wednesday's game in Toronto, the Rockets struggled mightily containing their best players.
Fred VanVleet erupted for 32 points while connecting on 7 of 16 from three. OG Anunoby notched 27 points to go along with 10 rebounds, with 20 of those coming before the two teams headed to the locker rooms.
Now facing off against the Pelicans, Houston will have its hands full against former No. 1 pick Zion Williamson, 2020 All-Star forward Brandon Ingram and last season's acquisition C.J McCollum.
The trio is contributing to more than half of New Orleans' points per game (63.5 of 116.3) and has shown their potential to finish atop the Western Conference.
After posting a solid game against Toronto, Jabari Smith Jr. will likely get assigned to one of the frontcourt mates in Williamson or Ingram, one of toughest matchups up to this point.
While it's much easier said than done, Silas's club will need to shut down one, if not two, of New Orleans big stars to stay in this game.
The game will tip-off at 8:30pm EST at the Smoothie King Center.
You can follow Riley Sheppard on Twitter @RileyDSheppard
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