"It's been fun honestly just being back out there," Rockets forward P.J. Tucker said Wednesday. "I think everyone is enjoying getting back out there together playing the scrimmages, but now that it's on, we're playing real games, I know everybody's excited, I think a little buzz is starting (up), everybody's excited to get back out there and get this going, an opportunity to get a chance to win a championship."
When the Rockets take on the Dallas Mavericks it will be their first game since March 10, which spans more than 20 weeks, 143 days to be exact. They'll play eight games over the next two weeks to try to move up from the sixth seed in the Western Conference before entering the playoffs.
"They're looking forward to getting it on and see what happens," Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Obviously, it will lead to the playoffs, and that's what we're here for."
With the 2020 NBA Playoffs being played inside the bubble without fans there is no homecourt advantage, making seeding a secondary goal. D'Antoni says it's all about getting better over the next 14 days.
"We'll use those eight games to try to round off in better shape and get some concepts down, but I think they're excited about playing."
The three weeks the Rockets have spent in the bubble haven't been without complications.
James Harden and Russell Westbrook were not with the team when it arrived on July 9. Austin Rivers had to leave for a day due to a family emergency which forced him to quarantine for four days upon his return, and Eric Gordon sprained his ankle during Tuesday's scrimmage, putting his availability in doubt for the seeding games.
But despite those issues, Tucker believes they're a better team now than when they arrived, though they won't know how they measure up until they take the floor.
"We went so long without playing basketball, I think as a team you won't be able to know until you get out there and play for real," Tucker said. "We got a confident group. We got guys that are really confident in each other. We have a confident coach, we're confident in everything we do, so I think every single game we've got, especially these eight we got going into the playoffs, we're pretty confident about winning."