The Houston Rockets fell to the Indiana Pacers, 110-100 on Thursday night and the Pacers gave the Rockets their first lost in the 2018 NBA Preseason. Victor Oladipo show cases his improved skills as he led the Pacers with his stellar performance finishing the game with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block in just 24 minutes on the floor. Oladipo was named the Most Improved Player last season and is now ready to be in the MVP conversation after his breakout season with the Indiana Pacers. Oladipo is now a top 3 shooting guard who brought the mediocre Pacers team to the Playoffs and even forced the Cleveland Cavaliers to a seven game series in the first round of the playoffs but eventually came up short.
The Pacers won the game because of their outstanding defense and offensive rebounding. I think that was the key to the game. Houston commits many unforced turnovers which was converted to points by the Pacers. Domantas Sabonis and TJ Leaf had a double-double performances each. Sabonis recorded 15 points and 12 rebounds while Leaf finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Miles Turner added 11 points and 5 rebounds and Bojan Bogdanovic scored 11 points hitting 3 of his 5 three-point attempts.
The Pacers did a great job defensively on both Chris Paul and James Harden limiting their production despite playing heavy minutes. Harden posted only 17 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals and 1 block shooting 35 percent from the field. Harden still makes a double-double but the Pacers prevented his scoring. Paul also had a bad shooting night or is it because of the Pacer's defense. He only contributed 6 points, 4 rebounds and 5 steals and shot just 28 percent from the field.
Bad night for both superstars but 2 other players shines for the Rockets and it's a good sign for them for regular season. Melo again looks pretty fine finishing the game with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 1 blocked shot. Melo had many defensive lapses but still tolerable as he's not as fast as other young guys. When he keeps his three-ball falling it can help the Rockets big time. Melo hits 4 three-pointers in this game and if he keeps it going and be consistent in the regular season, the Rockets will surely harder to beat.
Another player is Michael Carter-Williams, former Rookie of the Year. The Rockets had a great pick up signing MCW and giving him a lot of minutes. This kid has a lot to prove and this is his best chance. He can be the guy off-the-bench who can provide the same spark as the starters did. MCW finished the game with an efficient 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal shooting 58.3 percent from the field including a coast to coast dunk. After being a mere bust, he's now ready to get his reputation back as a great guard who have a potential to be a star.
Houston's next opponent will be the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night.
Comments