It’s Thursday, December 26, and the Houston Rockets (20-9) and New Orleans Pelicans (5-25) are all set to square off from Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The Rockets are currently 9-5 on the road with a point differential of +7, while the Pelicans have a 2-8 record in their last ten games at home.

The Houston Rockets (20-9) visit the New Orleans Pelicans (5-25) on Thursday. Tip-off from Smoothie King Arena is at 8 p.m. ET. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's NBA odds around the Rockets vs. Pelica

Absent from the league’s Christmas Day slate of games, the Rockets will look to take down New Orleans Thursday ... big hits to the Houston injury report, no team in the league has likely had it worse in this department than the Pelicans.

The struggling Pelicans witnessed the Rockets’ turnaround up close Thursday, getting dismantled 133-113 in the Toyota Center. It's the most points the Pelicans have allowed this season, surpassing the 132 points in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Houston Rockets (17-9) host the New Orleans Pelicans (5-22) on Thursday night in a clash of NBA Southwest Division rivals. Bookmark this page and check back for updates about both teams leading up to tipoff, and again after the final buzzer for postgame analysis and interviews by Houston Chronicle writers.

It’s time for the Houston Rockets to get greedy. When the team lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinals, we all looked at the schedule and said, “There’s four games against bad teams then a difficult homestand.