New York @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 1, 2017 ) Houston 119, New York 97

After an opening month in which the Houston Rockets adjusted after the loss of Chris Paul, a visit to the New York Knicks to begin November was just the jolt the Western Conference leaders needed to coast through the month. The Rockets have yet to play a close game since Paul returned, and they look to continue their mastery of the Knicks when they meet Saturday in Houston.

The Rockets bounced back from their only losing streak of the season at the end of October with a 22-point victory over New York on Nov. 1 and haven't stopped blowing out the competition since, posting a scoring margin of 16.8 points during their 9-1 surge this month despite a 16-point loss to Toronto on Nov. 14. Paul retuned from his 14-game absence two days later and Houston has won each of those three contests by average of 26 points. The Rockets have also dominated New York for the more than a decade, winning 23 of the last 25 meetings to even the all-time series at 70-70. The Knicks continued to struggle away from Madison Square Garden in Friday's 116-104 defeat in Atlanta, surrendering a 17-point lead in the first quarter to fall to 1-5 on the road.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBA TV, MSG (New York), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)

ABOUT THE KNICKS (10-8): Courtney Lee enjoyed his highest-scoring performance in 95 games with New York on Friday, connecting on his first eight shots to finish with 26 points on 11-of-14 from the field. Enes Kanter woke up with back spasms and did not start for the first time this season, resulting in Kyle O'Quinn's first start of the season and 10th in three seasons with the Knicks; despite logging his most playing time in November (23 minutes), O'Quinn managed only two points and six rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr. is averaging 23.3 points on 48 percent from the field over his last six games since scoring four points on 2-for-11 shooting against Sacramento on Nov. 11.

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (14-4): Eric Gordon (calf) and Ryan Anderson (illness) were sidelined in Wednesday's 125-95 shellacking of Denver, allowing Trevor Ariza to take over their usual sharpshooter role and he knocked down seven 3-pointers en route to 25 points - both season highs - in 35 minutes. Paul has yet to play more than 28 minutes since his return from the knee injury, yet the nine-time All-Star is still averaging 17 points, 9.3 assists and 2.3 steals while also drilling 10 of his 18 3-point attempts. James Harden leads the league in scoring (31.1 points) and assists (9.8), putting him in early position to become the first player since Nate Archibald in 1972-73 to lead the league in both categories in the same season.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Rockets F Luc Mbah a Moute recorded a plus-minus of plus-57 against Denver on Wednesday, the best such mark by any player in a game over the last 20 seasons.

2. New York is 2-12 all-time in the Toyota Center.

3. Dating back to the start of last season, Houston is 25-1 when holding an opponent to 100 points or fewer, including 7-1 in 2017-18.

PREDICTION: Rockets 128, Knicks 96