The Houston Rockets conclude their preseason tonight against the San Antonio Spurs. It is the final preparation for two teams that want to make a jump up the table. For Houston, the goal is the playoffs. For the Spurs, it’s time to enter the play-in conversation.

Victor Wembanyama has accelerated San Antonio’s rebuild, but the Spurs still feel like they’re just a few steps away from being the scary entity everyone expects them to be. The first piece of the puzzle this season was signing Chris Paul to a one-year deal. The lack of a lob thrower or even a player who could consistently get the ball to Wemby last season hurt San Antonio. CP3 solves this problem almost immediately and the deal turns out to be a win-win for both sides. Paul will be a veteran leader that the Spurs need (much like Fred VanVleet in Houston), but his deal also makes him incredibly tradeable. It is believed the Spurs and Paul have reached an agreement and Paul will be able to pick his target in the search for that elusive championship ring at the trade deadline.

Xiane and I will be at Playback again this time. Remember, we can give away 20 passes to watch the game even if you don’t have League Pass or access to Rockets games. Don’t look for an illegal stream when you can just come in, watch legally and for free, and hang out with other Rockets fans. It will be fun!

Tip

7pm CT

Here’s how to watch

Space City home network

Injury report

Rockets

N/A

Spurs

N/A

The line (as of this post)

N/A, but check here for updates

We look forward because we can

regular season opener on Wednesday against the Hornets