The Houston Rockets play host to the Portland Trail Blazers at Toyota Center on Saturday.

The Trail Blazers (16-13) come into this matchup winning five of their last seven games. With that said, they suffered an ugly defeat on Friday, being blown out by the Dallas Mavericks on the road. That means this is the second half of a back-to-back set, but most of these Portland starters sat in the second half of that loss because of the lopsided nature of that game. Damian Lillard had just 24 points and three assists, but he was flirting with a 35-point average in that previous winning streak. Trendon Watford was the one bright spot in that defeat, collecting 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists off the bench. He posted lines like that throughout the second half of last season, and getting more from him off of the bench could be a huge boost going forward.

The Rockets (9-19) were expected to be one of the worst teams in the NBA this season, and that's played out thus far. With that said, Houston comes into this matchup with a 6-5 record across their last 11 games. That promising stretch has fans ecstatic because this young core is finally coming together. Jalen Green and Kevin Porter have been growing in the backcourt, while Jabari Smith and Alperen Sengun have been holding down the paint. That's a solid foursome to build around, and it'll be interesting to see what the next step is in this endless rebuild. In any case, they still sit dead last in the Western Conference and have a long way to go to compete with the elite.

These teams played on October 28, with Portland prevailing, 125-111. That gives the Trail Blazers eight wins in their last 11 meetings with the Rockets.