The Rockets managed to pack plenty of storylines into the pre-Christmas portion of their 2018-19 season. The Carmelo Anthony experiment failed faster than anyone expected, and a fight with the Lakers stole the spotlight in LeBron’s home debut. Blowout losses in early December prompted concerning comments from Eric Gordon. Two weeks later, it was announced Chris Paul would be out through the end of 2018 with a hamstring injury. All of this came on the heels of a dominant, 65-win season and a near miss of the Finals.
While their hangover hasn't completely subsided, the Rockets have stabilized of late, winning seven of the last eight to sit seventh in the West at 18–15 following Christmas Day’s 113–109 win over Oklahoma City.