What Happened the Last Time the Houston Rockets Played on NBA Opening Night?

The Houston Rockets last played on the NBA opening night eight years ago against the defending champions, and now history repeats itself. Let's take a look back at what happened the last time the Rockets were the main event on opening night.

Jan 29, 2019; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul (3) and guard James Harden (13) stand for the National Anthem before playing against the New Orleans Pelicans at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-Imagn Images | Thomas B. Shea-Imagn Images

The NBA has slowly started to roll out its primetime schedule this week: the opening night, Christmas Day, and MLK Day games. You have the usual suspects like the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, and of course, the NBA defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

There is a new name on that list for this upcoming season, and it is the Houston Rockets. For the first time since 2019, the Rockets will be playing Christmas basketball. That wasn't the only big news concerning the Rockets and the schedule.

The NBA also announced that the Rockets will be part of the NBA opening night, as they visit the Thunder to raise their first-ever banner. That means Kevin Durant's first regular-season game with the Rockets will be against the franchise that drafted him.

The Last Time the Houston Rockets were part of NBA opening night

Mar 22, 2019; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul (left) and guard James Harden (right) stand for the National Anthem before playing against the San Antonio Spurs in the first quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-Imagn Images | Thomas B. Shea-Imagn Images

The Rockets' last appearance was in 2017, when they took on another defending champion, the Golden State Warriors. Just like this upcoming opening night game, that matchup featured Durant as well, but at that time, he was a member of the Warriors.

Coming into the 2017-18 season, the Houston Rockets had made a major move in the offseason just like they did this offseason. The Rockets had pulled off one of the biggest moves of the 2017 summer by trading for one of the best point guards in NBA history, Chris Paul.

The Warriors had easily defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers the year before, four games to one, and were looking to continue their dominance of the Rockets. The Warriors got off to a fast start that night as they held a nine-point lead at halftime.

The Rockets would go down by as many as 13 points in the third quarter as it looked like the Paul and Harden debut would be starting the year with a loss. However, the Rockets started to turn things around in the fourth quarter. The Rockets would go on a 17-8 run to start the quarter and cut the lead down to four with six minutes left.

After an Eric Gordon and-one and a PJ Tucker 3-pointer, the Rockets had cut the lead down to three at 118-115 with 3:31 left in the game. After two free throws by Tucker, the Rockets took their first lead of the game since leading 2-0. The game would come down to the last shot as Kevin Durant's final attempt came a fraction of a second after the final buzzer.

Rockets would go on to win 122-121, which was a sign of what was to come for the Rockets as they would go on to win a franchise-best 65 games in the regular season. Now, fast forward eight years, and the Rockets are back in primetime to open the season, facing off against another defending champion after a blockbuster deal in the offseason. We will see if the Rockets can spoil another ring night and are in store for another record-breaking season.