The Houston Rockets' development league team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, has become the first team in the development league to advance to the playoffs, which is gratifying. Compared with the Vipers' "mother team" Rockets, this development league powerhouse has performed unusually steadily and strongly in recent years. In the 2018-2019 season, the Vipers even won that year's championship, and Haltenstein performed well in that round of the finals.
The Vipers are also familiar with the players today, such as the Rockets' former shooter Gerald Green, the Rockets' active guard Trevlin Quinn, and Lamb and Taylor Bay, who once played for the Rockets. In fact, in addition to these familiar faces, there is a former Rockets player who has also performed very well in the development league, and he is only 24-year-old Rockets veteran Chris Clermons.
We know that Clemmons played for the Rockets in the 2019-2020 season, when the Rockets gave the losing guard Clemmons a chance and signed the small point guard on a temporary contract. After that, Clemmons was regularized on a contract because of his excellent performance in the Rockets, and at that time, he also became the Rockets' third point guard, playing in order after Westbrook and Rivers Jr.
But because of a long injury, the Rockets cut Clemmons early last year. Clemmons now plays for Maine in the Development League, but in a Development League game, Clemmons' Maine team defeated the Lakeland Magic 130-101. It is worth noting that the Rockets' veteran Clemmons played a supernatural performance in this game, and he shot 52 points in a single game! In the 40 minutes, Clemmons shot 18-of-28 from the field and 11-of-20 from three-point range, and exploded 52 points plus 11 rebounds and three assists.
It was already very rare to shoot down 52 points, but Clemmons, with a height of 1 meter 75, in the development league of long people, actually grabbed 11 rebounds in a single game, which is even more rare than shooting 52 points. 52 points, also the second highest score for a single game for a development league player this season, the 1st highest score came from the NBA veteran Stauskas's 57 points, it is worth noting that this Stauskas, who was also sent to the Rockets in a trade that year, but was then cut by the Rockets.
It can only be said that the rocket team's veterans are really talented. In the NBA, there are core players such as Harden, Paul, Capela, Tucker, as well as rotational players such as Jeff Green, Rivers Jr., McLemore, and even the Rockets in the Lakers almost occupy 1/3 of the team lineup.
In addition to becoming a landscape in the NBA, the Rockets have also extended their "dominance" into the development league. Maine beat the Magic by 29 points, and this game was a gorgeous performance from the Rockets' former fringe player Clemmons.