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The 2019–20 Houston Rockets season was the 53rd season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and their 49th in the Houston area.

After what was an uneventful off-season for the Rockets, failing to land Houston native Jimmy Butler, the Rockets acquired star point guard Russell Westbrook from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Chris Paul and a trove of future draft considerations, reuniting Westbrook with former Thunder teammate James Harden, who had played his first three seasons with the Thunder and was part of the 2011–12 Thunder team that appeared in the 2012 NBA Finals.

With the San Antonio Spurs missing the playoffs for the first time since the 1996-97 season, the Rockets would hold the longest active playoff streak in the NBA qualifying every year since the 2012–13 season.

In February, Westbrook and Harden became the first teammates in NBA history to average 30+ points and 5+ assists per game.

This marked the team's third straight divisional championship, as well as James Harden's 8th straight All-Star selection as a Rocket.

In the playoffs, the Rockets defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, Westbrook and Harden's former team, in Game 7 of the first round. However, in the Western Conference semifinals, they would lose in five games to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.

COVID-19 impact

The season was suspended by the league officials following the games of March 11 after it was reported that Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. On June 26 the NBA and National Basketball Players Association finalized a comprehensive plan, and it was announced that the 2019–20 season would resume in the NBA Bubble on July 30, with health and safety precautions and rules enforceable by warning, fine, suspension, or campus ban, including establishing a hotline for players to report violations of COVID-19 restrictions, a single-site campus at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida and an intentional goal to take "collective action to combat systemic racism and promote social justice." Fourteen-year NBA veteran player Thabo Sefolosha opted out of continuing on with the team in the wake of the pandemic. Westbrook also tested positive for the virus and the diagnosis was formally announced in July prior to the team heading to Orlando. He flew to Orlando to join the team on July 20 following NBA mandated quarantine requirements and two negative COVID-19 test results. The league's July 20 COVID-19 testing update stated that no players of the 346 at the "NBA bubble" complex had tested positive within the week prior. A July 16 news report stated that the Rockets were the first NBA team publicly known to file a lawsuit to recover COVID-19-related losses by suing Affiliated FM Insurance for denying its business-interruption claim.

Draft picks

The Rockets did not hold any picks for the 2019 NBA draft. This was the third time in franchise history that they did not hold any picks in the draft; the last time was in 1989.

Roster

2019–20 Houston Rockets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From F 5 Caboclo, Bruno 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1995–09–21 Brazil F 9 Carroll, DeMarre 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1986–07–27 Missouri C 19 Chandler, Tyson 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1982–10–02 Dominguez HS (CA) G 3 Clemons, Chris 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1997–07–23 Campbell F 33 Covington, Robert 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1990–12–14 Tennessee State G 21 Frazier, Michael (TW) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1994–03–08 Florida G 10 Gordon, Eric  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1988–12–25 Indiana F 32 Green, Jeff 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1986–08–28 Georgetown G 13 Harden, James (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1989–08–26 Arizona State F 4 House, Danuel 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1993–06–07 Texas A&M F 12 Mbah a Moute, Luc 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1986–09–09 UCLA G 16 McLemore, Ben 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1993–02–11 Kansas G/F – Nwaba, David 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 219 lb (99 kg) 1993–01–14 Cal Poly G 25 Rivers, Austin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1992–08–01 Duke G/F 18 Sefolosha, Thabo 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1984–05–02 Switzerland F 17 Tucker, P. J. 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1985–05–05 Texas G 0 Westbrook, Russell 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1988–11–12 UCLA

Head coach Mike D'Antoni Assistant coach(es) Matt Brase Brett Gunning Dan Hartfield John Lucas Elston Turner Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster Last transaction: 2020–07–08

Standings

Division

Conference

Game log

Preseason

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

• Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Rockets only.

Transactions

Trades

Free agency

Re-signed

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
William McDowell-White	July 3, 2019	Brose Bamberg
Shamorie Ponds	July 3, 2019	St. John's Red Storm
Chris Clemons	July 5, 2019	Campbell Fighting Camels
Tyson Chandler	July 18, 2019	Los Angeles Lakers
Ben McLemore	July 23, 2019	Sacramento Kings
Anthony Bennett	July 25, 2019	Agua Caliente Clippers
Thabo Sefolosha	September 23, 2019	Utah Jazz
Ryan Anderson	September 27, 2019	Miami Heat
Jeff Green	February 18, 2020	Utah Jazz
DeMarre Carroll	February 20, 2020	San Antonio Spurs
Luc Mbah a Moute	July 7, 2020	Los Angeles Clippers

Subtractions

References

1. "Houston Rockets Franchise Index | Basketball-Reference.com". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
2. "Russell Westbrook, James Harden finish historic month in style". usatoday.com. March 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
3. "NBA to suspend season following Wednesday's games". NBA.com. March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
4. Reynolds, Tim (March 11, 2020). "NBA suspends season until further notice, over coronavirus". NBA.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
5. "Fans React After Report That NBA Players Are Using Bubble 'Snitch Hotline'". Complex. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
6. Staff, NBA com. "Everything you need to know about the 2019-20 NBA season restart". NBA.com. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
7. "Rockets have open roster spot after Thabo Sefolosha opts out". July 2020.
8. "Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook has COVID-19". July 13, 2020.
9. "Rockets star Russell Westbrook arrives in Orlando a week after announcing positive COVID-19 test". July 20, 2020.
10. "P. J. Tucker, Russell Westbrook explain strong support for masks". Rockets Wire. July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
11. Young, Jabari (July 16, 2020). "Houston Rockets sue insurance company for denying its coronavirus business-interruption claim". CNBC. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
12. "Full 2019 NBA Draft Order". tankathon.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
13. "Rockets Acquire Eight-Time All-Star Russell Westbrook". Houston Rockets. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
14. "Rockets Complete Four-Team Trade". NBA.com. February 5, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
15. "Memphis Grizzlies acquire Jordan Bell from Houston Rockets". NBA.com. February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2020.

• Houston Rockets seasons
• 2019–20 NBA season by team
• 2019 in sports in Texas
• 2020 in sports in Texas
• 2019 in Houston
• 2020 in Houston