The Houston Rockets travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz at Vivint Arena on Friday.

The Rockets (37-35) season appeared to be over when they lost Alperen Sengun earlier in the month, but they've been one of the hottest teams in the NBA since then. In fact, Houston comes into this matchup winning 10 straight games. Most of those wins were against inferior competition, but beating the Oklahoma City Thunder in their most recent game shows just how truly hot they are right now. Jalen Green is the guy who's taken his game to another level, averaging over 30 points per game in that span. We've been waiting for that kid to show his true potential, and it looks like a small silver lining in the absence of Sengun because that's forcing Green to run the show. With all that said, an 11-24 road record is truly embarrassing, and they won't reach the postseason if that poor road form continues.

The Jazz (29-44) come into this matchup losing seven straight games, losing 18 of their last 21 games in total. That horrific stretch is hard to fathom, especially since they were flirting with .500 before it. This franchise announced that they were going in this direction when they parted ways with Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, but no one could've seen a stretch like this. What makes it more bizarre is that this team has some great young talent. Keyonte George has been one of the best rookie guards in the NBA, while Lauri Markkanen has developed into an All-Star player. It'll be interesting to see where they go from here because there are still many changes on the horizon in what's going to be a lengthy rebuild.

This is the third matchup between these teams, with Houston winning the first two.