Injuries and the collective bargaining agreement are impacting the early seasons of the Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets both, if in different ways. And these two teams will collide for the first time in the NBA's 2025-26 regular season this weekend as Boston hosts the Rockets at TD Garden this Saturday (Nov. 1). What can we expect from a Houston - Boston tilt without Fred VanVleet and Jayson Tatum? How are their respective seasons going so far -- and why? And what does a successful season look like for both ball clubs given what we know about each so far?

The hosts of "Havlicek Stole the Pod" sat down with Rockets Wire editor Ben DuBose to talk over all things Celtics and Rockets, as well as getting caught up on all the important news making the rounds early in the season for Boston.

We even discuss the odd coaching connections between the two cities even beyond Ime Udoka, the pros and cons of a buzz cut on NBA performance and why a Derrick White trade to Houston is not likely to happen, so be sure to tune in to this week's pod.

Outro: Whistle by Benjamin Banger - https://tiny.ee/Jk4U or BenJaminBanger.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.