The Houston Rockets travel to the Chase Center to do battle with the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.

Houston Rockets 

The Houston Rockets seem to have cooled off from their six-game win streak as they are now hoping to avoid a third straight defeat after coming up short against the Lakers in a 105-104 road loss last night. Dillon Brooks drained six 3-pointers to lead the team with 24 points, Alperen Sengun added 23 points with 10 rebounds and five assists while Fred VanVleet chipped in with 15 points and 16 assists. As a team, the Rockets shot 48 percent from the field and 14 of 37 from the 3-point line as they erased a seven-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to tie the scores, only to fall just short as the Lakers’ LeBron James made the go-ahead free throw with just 1.2 seconds left on the clock. 

Golden State Warriors 

Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors have been in terrible form as they’ve lost seven of their last eight games and they will be looking to put an end to a six-game slide after getting beaten by the Thunder in a 130-123 overtime loss on Saturday. Andrew Wiggins led the team with 31 points on 12 of 19 shooting, Stephen Curry added 25 points with seven rebounds and three assists, Klay Thompson scored 16 points while Chris Paul tallied 12 points with 11 assists. As a team, the Warriors shot 45 percent from the field and 18 of 46 from the 3-point line as they dominated the first half to lead by as many as 18 points, but they never put the Thunder away and then scored just six points in overtime to come up short for the second time against the Thunder. 

Peter’s Pick

The Rockets have emerged as one of the surprise teams in the league so far and they could easily be on an eight-game win streak if not for two close defeats against the Clippers and then the Lakers. The Warriors are in the midst of an ugly slump and the trade rumors are starting to get louder now with the Warriors losing their sixth straight on Saturday. The Warriors will bounce back eventually and I wouldn’t be shocked if this was the game, but the Rockets are playing better than people give them credit and I think they hang around long enough for another cover.