Houston Rockets conclude preseason with win over Miami Heat
As test drives go, the Rockets ran pretty well for a while. A few more tune-ups could still be in order before the regular season begins on Wednesday.
At their best on Friday, the Rockets rolled, running their offense sharply to good shots and defending well to build a commanding halftime lead.
When they sputtered, they invited the Heat backups to rally back into the game before pulling away late to top Miami, 110-104, and finish the preseason 4-1.
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Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet led the Rockets with 20 points apiece, Green showing no issues with the toe injury that forced him to miss the past two games, and VanVleet adding six assists with just one turnover. Rookie Amen Thompson added a preseason high 19 points. Alperen Şengün had his best game of the preseason with 16 points, 12 rebounds.
The Rockets led by as much as 14 but were leading 88-83 with 8:43 left when Rockets coach Ime Udoka pulled his starters for the night, as Miami coach Erik Spoelstra had at halftime.
The Rockets dominated the second quarter with perhaps their best stretch of the preseason. The rout of the Pelicans was more complete, and the Rockets’ switching, scrambling defense had a lot to do with that. But the Pelicans were so sloppy that outscoring the Heat by 15 in the second quarter on Friday was more impressive.
The Rockets made 63.2% of their shots in the quarter, going from scoring eight points in the paint in the first quarter to 16 in the second quarter when they made 8 of 10 shots inside.
The Rockets went from down four before Green beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer to up 14 at halftime.
By then, the Heat starters were done for the night, and the Rockets starters began the second half as if they were, too.
The Rockets began the second half missing their first seven shots with five turnovers before Green sank a corner 3 to start a bit of a flurry.
They recovered a bit, and even returned their starters to the game to start the fourth quarter. But the Rockets missed so many wide-open 3s, they could not pull away as seemed certain in the first half.
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIAMI | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Love | 16:28 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Martin | 12:46 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Adebayo | 15:49 | 4-6 | 3-6 | 1-3 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Herro | 16:28 | 4-9 | 4-5 | 0-1 | 4 | 0 | 13 |
| Lowry | 16:28 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Jovic | 26:04 | 4-8 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Hampton | 25:22 | 5-9 | 5-6 | 0-3 | 5 | 5 | 17 |
| Smith | 22:00 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| D.Robinson | 19:32 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Champagnie | 19:24 | 4-8 | 2-2 | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| O.Robinson | 16:21 | 2-7 | 3-5 | 2-5 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Bryant | 15:50 | 3-3 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Swider | 12:00 | 3-5 | 1-1 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Diallo | 5:28 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Totals | 240:00 | 37-79 | 22-29 | 5-38 | 21 | 27 | 104 |
Percentages: FG .468, FT .759.
3-Point Goals: 8-29, .276 (Hampton 2-3, Lowry 2-4, Champagnie 1-2, Herro 1-3, Swider 1-3, Love 1-4, D.Robinson 0-2, Smith 0-2, Jovic 0-3, Martin 0-3).
Team Rebounds: 12. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 5 (Love 3, O.Robinson 2).
Turnovers: 21 (D.Robinson 4, Jovic 4, Bryant 3, O.Robinson 3, Adebayo 2, Champagnie 2, Hampton, Love, Smith).
Steals: 10 (Champagnie 2, Smith 2, Adebayo, D.Robinson, Hampton, Love, Lowry, O.Robinson).
Technical Fouls: None.
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOUSTON | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Brooks | 27:24 | 3-10 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Smith Jr. | 27:23 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 0-8 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Sengun | 26:40 | 6-16 | 4-6 | 7-12 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| Ja.Green | 28:20 | 6-15 | 5-5 | 0-4 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| VanVleet | 28:32 | 7-10 | 3-3 | 0-3 | 6 | 0 | 20 |
| Thompson | 24:44 | 6-9 | 7-9 | 3-7 | 4 | 0 | 19 |
| Landale | 21:18 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Je.Green | 16:17 | 2-6 | 3-3 | 2-4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| Tate | 11:58 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Whitmore | 8:43 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Bullock Jr. | 8:18 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Holiday | 5:34 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Williams | 4:48 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Totals | 240:00 | 39-90 | 24-28 | 13-49 | 22 | 23 | 110 |
Percentages: FG .433, FT .857.
3-Point Goals: 8-28, .286 (VanVleet 3-4, Ja.Green 3-7, Smith Jr. 1-4, Brooks 1-7, Bullock Jr. 0-1, Holiday 0-1, Je.Green 0-1, Landale 0-1, Tate 0-1, Thompson 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 6 (Sengun 4, Landale, VanVleet).
Turnovers: 17 (Smith Jr. 5, Brooks 4, Ja.Green 2, Je.Green, Landale, Sengun, Thompson, VanVleet, Whitmore).
Steals: 12 (Brooks 3, Landale 2, Thompson 2, VanVleet 2, Ja.Green, Tate, Williams).
Technical Fouls: Thompson, 4:48 fourth.
| Miami | 31 | 21 | 19 | 33 | — | 104 |
| Houston | 30 | 36 | 15 | 29 | — | 110 |
A_18,055 (18,500).
When simple is better than sensational
Late in the second quarter, Şengün had to be feeling good. The struggles in San Antonio were behind him. He had been making plays. One of those stunning Alpi passes had to be coming.
He made it with a look no one could see coming, with Thompson redirecting an offensive rebound to Şengün, and Şengün one-timing behind his back and without a look in that direction to Thompson for a layup.
Yet, as entertaining as that pass was, the simple plays might have been more important.
He had a good post-up, getting deep position to score off a variety of moves on Kevin Love. But before and after that basket, he served as a rim protector, blocking shots away in help defense.
He had his flashy pass, but twice in the quarter he drew the defense, not on a move but in the post, and made smart, safe passes to set up wide-open 3s. Jabari Smith Jr. and Dillon Brooks missed those shots so those passes were likely forgotten, but that was the sort of solid play that can be better than the highlights.
The highlight was pretty fun, though.
Not so fast my friend
Thompson made his move to the basket and missed his shot when a late whistle blew, calling him for an offensive foul.
It was still the first quarter. Thompson had not committed a foul, leaving no concern with foul trouble.
Udoka challenged the call, anyway.
In past seasons, it would seem unlikely to challenge a call in that situation. But Udoka was sure the call was in error and a rule change this season allowed him to find out.
Udoka won the challenge and Thompson went to the line. But with the change in the coach’s challenge rules, Udoka got to have another challenge. In the past, successful or unsuccessful, that would have been his only challenge.
Instead, he used it when he was confident he’d win, something that could be the prevailing strategy among coaches this season.
3-and-D
As much as was made of the Rockets’ league-worst 3-point shooting last season, the 3-point defense was not much better. While the shooting remains an issue, the defense has been considerably better in the preseason.
The switching defense should take away many wide-open 3s. Mistakes on coverages, as with the start of games in San Antonio, can leave shooters open. But one of the ideas of switching on screens is to keep bodies on bodies.
In the first four games of the preseason, Rockets opponents had made just 11.8 3s per game on 31.8% shooting. Last season, when the Rockets were 27th in 3-point defense, opponents made 37.4%. Through three quarters on Friday, the Heat had made 6 of 23 3s, before hitting their first two from deep in the fourth quarter when the reserves were in.
But the improvement in that key part of the Rockets defense was already obvious, and significant if it lasts in the regular season.
