According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin and CBS Sports, the Rockets are expected to open the season against the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, starting the season on a familiar West Coast road trip. According to Moore, the Clippers and Rockets are expected to be the late game on opening night, and the Lakers will presumably open against the Rockets either the next day or the day after.

Correction: The CBS Sports article was obviously wrong, as the Rockets will apparently face off against the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night. We await word on whether the team will play the Clippers after.

Rockets fans are used to staying up late early in the season, as the team has opened the season on the West Coast in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010, but the big draw used to be a shootout between the Rockets and Lakers. Now, the game everyone will be watching will be the Rockets and Clippers, as James Harden and Dwight Howard face off against Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. That will be an excellent way for the Rockets to measure themselves after a summer of change.

As for the Lakers, the Rockets will get the opportunity to see firsthand how Jeremy Lin's transition to Los Angeles has going, as well as getting to see Kobe Bryant angrily yell at Carlos Boozer for 30 minutes a night. In terms of entertainment alone, that game will still be a good one.

The rest of the schedule will drop at 5 pm CST, and we'll have full coverage here on how the Rockets slate looks.