The Houston Rockets had a tale of two games in China. After looking good in game 1, the Rockets sat Kevin Durant, Steven Adams, and Alperen Sengun in game 2, losing a ton of firepower, while the Dallas Mavericks were boosted by the return of Kyrie Irving and downed the Rockets 132-115.
The Rockets started Marcus Smart and Clint Capela, and Smart actually looked pretty good, going for 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, while shooting 4-for-9 from deep. But Capela only had 5 points and 9 boards in 24
minutes of action.
The Rockets were mostly battling from behind in this one, but Jabari Smith Jr. continued to look sharp and more aggressive, going for 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, while Reed Sheppard had 17 points on 4-for-10 from deep, but he also had 5 turnovers, while Amen Thompson had 14 points, 7 boards, and 6 assists.
Even youngsters Oscar Tshiebwe and Bruce Thornton got some time, with Big Oscar going for 12 points and 4 boards, with Thornton adding 9 in 18 minutes.
The Mavs were led by Irving’s 17 points, and he carved up the Rockets in 22 minutes of action, much to Ime Udoka’s dismay. They also got 16 from Zaccharie Risacher and 14 from Cooper Flagg to round out their scoring leaders.
The Rockets will now return from China, and as one of the NBA’s preseason international teams, will only have three preseason games to play. They’ll be back in action on Thursday night at home versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. That’s a 730 start time, with the game airing on NBA TV.
