The Houston Rockets got 30 points apiece from Kevin Durant and Jabari Smith Jr., as they used a massive first half of basketball to build a lead, and then cruised home in the second half to a 128-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the season opener Wednesday night at the Toyota Center.
The Rockets were up 70-38 at the half behind 16 points each from Durant and Smith, and then emptied their bench by the fourth quarter giving Houston their first victory of the year.
Durant finished with 30 points
on 10-for-16 shooting, 2-for-4 from deep, with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. While Smith’s 30 came on 11-for-17 shooting, 4-for-8 from deep, along with 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Durant had 4 turonovers while Smith had 1. Despite Ime Udoka’s preseason promise of less KD minutes, Durant led the team with 37. Is anyone suprised? Ime just can’t help himself, even in a bench-clearing blowout.
The presence of Fred VanVleet added a floor-setter for the Rockets, but he was just 2-for-8 from the floor for 6 points in 30 minutes of action, but he did add 11 assists and 0 tunrovers. That didn’t stop KD’s 4 give-ups or the 4 turonovers by Alperen Sengun, so it appears those two can still rack up some turnovers even with FVV back. But Sengun had a solid game despite the turnovers, going for 23 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists on 9-for-15 from the floor and 2-for-2 from deep.
Amen Thompsom added 16 points, 10 boards, and 4 assists, while Marcus Smart had 10 points and 2 assists in 26 minutes off of the bench to round out Houston’s double-digit scorers.
Tari Eason was ejected after receiving a flagrant 2. He played just three minutes and scored 2 points. Reed Sheppard struggled with his shot, going just 1-for-6 from the floor with 3 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. We also saw what Ime’s plans are for Reed when his shot isn’t falling, and that was just 16 total minutes for Reed, even in the blowout. Newcomer Bogdan Bogdanovich had 5 points in 13 minutes and hit a three.
Houston shot 16-for-36 as a team from deep, a respectable number, and they shot 53 percent from the floor. They also won the rebound battle against the Mavs at 42-33.
Dallas was led by 32 points from Cooper Flagg, who I think is about to have a monster season. Heads up if you’re into fantasy basketball at all. But the Rockets might have an emerging player of their own. Jabari looked good this preseason and has now carried that over to the start of the regular season. Breakout incoming?
The Rockets will be back in action Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
