On October 16th, Beijing time, the NBA preseason continued, and today the Rockets ushered in the challenge of the Pelicans at home, before this game, the Rockets defeated the Western favorite team Thunder, and the Pelicans Zion was also absent in the game, in this case, the Rockets are more optimistic about winning the victory, and in the end they did not let the accident happen, then let's talk about the game process first, and then talk about the players' play.
Contest Recap:
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, Dillon hit a three-point shot to help the Rockets take the lead, Ingram and Theis combined to score 4 points in response, Jalen Green and Jabari Smith combined to score 5 points, Ingram hit a three-point response, and then the game entered the rhythm of the Rockets, Dillon and Shen Jing combined to score 5 points, Jabari Smith and Amen Thompson combined to score 5 points, and the team directly established a double-digit lead, after which the Pelicans also failed to play a decent counterattack, and the Rockets led by 7 points in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Alvarado and Ingram combined for 5 points to help the team narrow the gap, Shepard responded with 5 points in a row, CJ and Theis combined for 5 points, and then the game entered the rhythm of the Rockets, Shepard and Jalen Green led the team to play a wave of 7-0 offensive climax to extend the lead back to double digits, Adams continued to kill inside to help the Rockets lead to 19 points, and at the end of the quarter, Murray and Ingram scored successively to help the team chase down to 14 points to end the first half.
Yibian fought again against Ingram's inside kill to help the Pelicans narrow the difference, Van Jordan responded with two free throws, Ingram's baseline kill, Dillon and Jalen Green combined to score 5 points in response, and then Shen Jing and Green scored one after another, and the Rockets further extended the lead, but after the core was off the court, the Pelicans relied on Jordan Hawkins' play, and they gradually caught up with the point difference, and Hawkins scored 16 points in a single quarter, helping the Pelicans chase down to 7 points to end the third quarter.
Although the bench still didn't want to give up in the final quarter, the Rockets obviously had more young talent, and their lineup thickness was better, and in the end, the Rockets withstood the opponent's counterattack, and the team defeated the Pelicans 118-98.
The Pelicans' deformed lineup is destined to be difficult to succeed
In this game, Zion's absent Pelicans' interior killing ability has seriously declined, and they have no interior rim protection, and now after the interior killing ability has also declined, the team can only be slaughtered. In the offseason, in order to let Zion play his best dominance, the team did not hesitate to give up the center and chose the five-small starter, and now the team's starting center is the 2.03-meter Theis, and when Zion returns in the future, then the starting center is the 2.01-meter Jones, do you say that such a lineup wants to impact the record?
Even if they have a quad core, but in the overall strength of the West, it can be said that the Pelicans have no day at all, this game CJ has withered in the face of high-intensity defense, 3 of 11 shots, 2 of 7 three-pointers got 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, Dejounte Murray did not play well, 3 of 9 shots got 12 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists, the Pelicans want to say that the best play, that is Ingram, he shot 7 of 13 from the field, 2 of 3 from three-point range and got 18 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
Ingram was put on the shelf by the Pelicans in the offseason, they think Ingram is not worth the salary extension, so they want to send him away, in fact, the main reason for Ingram's poor performance in the playoffs last season is that he returned without healing from his injury, and a healthy Ingram is still the best scorer on the outside of their team, the Pelicans are a little confused, in fact, the most they should send away should be CJ, if CJ is exchanged for a suitable space inside, the Pelicans will be strong.
Rockets bloom in multiple points
In this game, the Rockets showed their talent and lineup depth, and Shen Jing was also easy to paddle in this game, and the opponent kept shrinking the defense in order to prevent him from killing on the inside, which also gave his teammates more opportunities, and Shen Jing got 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists on 4-of-6 shooting. The Pelicans' way of shrinking gave Dillon a chance, and Dillon shot 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point range to get 13 points and 4 rebounds.
Jalen Green found his form in this game, he shot 7 of 15 from the field, 2 of 6 from three-point range and got 19 points and 6 rebounds, although Green still has some nerve knives, but his ball quotient is indeed better than before, and now he knows that he can make adjustments to the playing style according to the opponent's lineup. Although Van Jordan was in poor form on the offensive end, scoring five points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field, he dished out nine assists.
On the bench, Whitmore got 10 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists on 4-of-10 shooting, Amen Thompson shot 5-of-8 from the field, and 1-of-2 from three-point range with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks.
Speaking of which, what do you have to say about the current Rockets and Pelicans? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.