:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47352534/usa-today-8845338.0.jpg)
The Houston Rockets opened their 2015-16 preseason campaign on Tuesday night with what looked very much like a game played by players who have not played an organized basketball game in three or four months against the Memphis Grizzlies. We saw 29 players play, commit a total of 40 turnovers and ultimately the Rockets lost, 92-89.
It was not a pretty game. It is probably a good thing that the Houston Astros were playing the New York Yankees in the MLB Wild Card game tonight. It prevented people from seeing the Rockets shoot just 36% from the field, 16.7% from three, but they shot a decent (for them) 71% from the free throw line.
Tonight, however, did mark the Rockets debut of Ty Lawson. He did most of his damage in the first half, scoring eight points and getting three steals. In fact, he and Trevor Ariza combined for seven steals between themselves in the first half and 20 points.
Maybe we'll see a lineup with both Lawson, Ariza and Corey Brewer at some point working a press?
A fun lineup we did see at the end of the first half did see Lawson running point with Patrick Beverley at the other guard spot, James Harden at the swing, with both Clint Capela and Dwight Howard up front. I wish I paid a bit more attention to how the lineup did overall, but I believe they came out plus on both offense and defense.
Brewer did have 11 points for the Rockets off the bench and first-round pick, Sam Dekker had three points in his NBA debut.
The Rockets had a chance to tie the game in the final four seconds, but there really isn't a way to describe what happened. So, we'll just go to the video.
I'm pretty sure that Kevin McHale did not draw that up during the timeout. Or maybe he did so the guys could watch the rest of the Astros game.
The Rockets will play their first home game of the year tomorrow night against the Dallas Mavericks. Game time is again at 7PM CDT and will be on Root Sports for those local and NBA League Pass for those, like myself, who live outside the Houston area.