(Photo credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images)

The Houston Rockets won 10 of 11 road games during one blistering stretch that bridged December and January, a run so stellar it framed their recent road woes as unusually odd.

The Rockets snapped an eight-game road skid with their 109-97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday, ending a stretch of defeats that dated back to a one-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 30. The victory not only enabled Houston to conclude a three-game road trip on a high note, but it also set the stage for the Rockets to carry positive momentum into a crucial six-game homestand that begins Saturday against the Pelicans.

Houston entered the weekend a half-game behind the Grizzlies for the fourth seed in the Western Conference and homecourt advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. The Rockets claimed the season series over Memphis and possess the tiebreaker should the teams close the schedule with matching records.

Five of the six teams the Rockets will face during their homestand currently have losing records. A successful homestand would significantly bolster their hopes for a prime postseason position.

The win over the Pelicans was constructed on a strong defensive effort, notably from forward Dillon Brooks, who spearheaded the defensive game plan against Pelicans forward Zion Williamson. Before shooting 5 of 15 against the Rockets, Williamson averaged 27.5 points on 65.5 percent shooting over his previous 10 games.

'Forced him into some non-rim 2s,' Rockets coach Ime Udoka said of Brooks' defensive performance. 'His point of contact, meeting him around the free-throw line was really good to not let him get downhill (and) get a head of steam. And the crowd was good. Showing a crowd flooding across the baseline when he (Williamson) tried to have his elbow and wing isolations. Dillon took pride in that matchup.'

Even in victory, the Rockets again struggled from the free-throw line. After missing a combined 20 free throws in recent losses to the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers, the Rockets finished 8 for 18 at the line in New Orleans. Houston, which ranks last in the NBA with a 73.9 free-throw percentage, must remain committed to doing the work in practice to better that rate.

'That's the only thing you can do,' Udoka said. 'You can't emulate a game situation in practice. Get the reps up and obviously the worm will turn eventually for us.'

The Pelicans' offensive struggles against Houston extended beyond their ability to get Williamson going. New Orleans shot 37.3 percent from the floor and totaled only 17 assists. The Rockets effectively siphoned off Williamson's rim attacks and prevented the Pelicans from the quality of ball movement necessary to initiate an efficient brand of offense.

'That's another area where you see that, we have to be able to take advantage with the pass,' Pelicans coach Willie Green said. 'If they're going to step up like that, you can hit our bigs, hit our guards in the corners. Now the dominoes are falling because we have them scrambling.'

--Field Level Media