Following a brutal start to the 2022-23 schedule with 10 road games in their first 13, including a pair of road trips of at least four games in length, the young Houston Rockets finally reach the end of the line with Saturday night’s visit to New Orleans to face the Pelicans.

After Saturday’s contest, the Rockets play at home within the friendly confines of Toyota Center for five of their next six games.

Ideally, they’d like to get there without the NBA’s worst record. To do that, the Rockets will likely need another strong outing by second-year guard Jalen Green — who played a key role in Monday’s win at Orlando and has become much more efficient over the past 10 days.

The Pelicans are led by fourth-year forward Zion Williamson, who has shaken off a lost season due to injury to lead New Orleans in scoring at 23.3 points on 54.8% shooting and 50.0% on 3-pointers.

Injury reports

Houston’s latest injury report lists Jae’Sean Tate out (right ankle soreness) and Bruno Fernando (left knee soreness) as out. New Orleans will be without Kira Lewis Jr. (right knee ACL injury recovery) and E.J. Liddell (right knee ACL injury recovery).