Suns at Rockets
The Houston Rockets attempt to defeat Phoenix for the 10th straight time when they host the Suns on Friday. Houston prevailed in 16 of the past 18 matchups, including a 118-110 win in Phoenix on Feb. 4.
The Rockets had their nine-game winning streak halted Tuesday, when they dropped a 106-104 decision to the visiting Golden State Warriors. "Sometimes you don't learn a lot when you win," Houston coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters of the setback. "If this didn't get their attention, then we're in big trouble. It'll get their attention, and we just gotta figure some things out and do a better job." The Suns suffered a 114-97 home loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday for just their third loss in the past eight games. "We have to move forward. We have had a pretty good stretch here in previous games and you have to keep building on that," Phoenix standout shooting guard Devin Booker said afterward. "You are going to have lumps in the road but you've got to keep going and punch the clock every day."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Arizona, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)
ABOUT THE SUNS (16-53): Rookie center Deandre Ayton had a miserable game against Utah's Rudy Gobert by scoring just two points on 1-of-9 shooting. "Overall, I give myself an F-minus," Ayton told reporters afterward. "This was a bad game. I definitely put this loss on me. I just wasn't locked in. I don't know what's happening. The shots I took were pretty bad. This is definitely the worst game I've ever played. The worst by far." Gobert had 18 points and 20 rebounds and Ayton said he didn't realize that the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year was "super athletic."
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (42-26): Houston trailed Golden State by 10 points after one quarter and made just 11-of-41 3-pointers during its first loss since Feb. 21. "We didn't play as smart as we should or I think it would have been a different result," shooting guard Eric Gordon told reporters afterward. "You can't really have letdowns with this team because they'll make you pay, and that's what happened." Harden was a porous 2-of-12 from 3-point range while scoring 29 points as he failed to reach 30 for the third straight game, and he is just 8-of-36 from behind the arc during the stretch.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Harden scored 44 points in last month's win over the Suns.
2. Booker has scored 20 or more points in 10 consecutive games and is averaging 27.7 points during the stretch.
3. Houston PG Chris Paul scored 24 points against the Warriors after averaging 7.0 on 8-of-37 shooting over the previous four games.