The Houston Rockets looked lethargic to start against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday evening, with their late arrival after a thrilling win over the Boston Celtics from the night before clearly weighing on them.

Third-year forward Tari Eason has been a defensive menace for the Houston Rockets, coming off the bench to provide a major boost.

Eason (leg) is off the injury report ahead of Thursday's game against the Grizzlies. The Rockets gave Eason the night off Tuesday against the Hawks for injury management, but the forward is all set to be available Thursday.

As of Sunday night, the Rockets are sixth in the league in net rating at +6.1. Their defense is third in the league with a defensive rating of 107.3. But the offense has now crept all the way up to eleventh league-wide with an offensive rating of 113.4. Houston is inching closer to having both a top 10 defense and offense.

This, then, is a rather important development when evaluating the Western Conference landscape: League sources tell The Stein Line that Houston and Fred VanVleet have mutual interest in prolonging

With Fred VanVleet potentially hitting free agency this offseason, the Rockets could have interest in a new contract.

The Houston Rockets welcomed back Tari Eason to the lineup against the Sacramento Kings Friday night. Eason had missed the last 13 games due to lower leg injury

It is the first All-Star selection for Şengün, the 22-year-old center who over the last four seasons has helped to rebuild the Rockets into a playoff contender.

Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason is one of the NBA's best wing defenders, a long-armed menace who racks up steals and blocks with regularity. Eason employed a dose of free-throw defense with his trash talk in Wednesday's 109-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Young Houston Rockets teammates Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard are on different Rising Stars teams for All-Star weekend and embracing their new "rivalry."

Houston has had two full days off since beating the NBA-best Cavaliers Wednesday, and the two teams will again face off tonight at 6:30 p.m. CT. The Rockets nar

De’Aaron Fox has supplanted Jimmy Butler as the top available trade target on the market a week before the NBA trade deadline, which could lead to a domino effect across the league. Amid Fox’s newfound availability on the trade market,