Game 32: Houston Rockets At New Orleans Pelicans Preview

Wow! The Houston Rockets showed out on national television last night.

It was a Christmas match up of the ages and they were able to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in admirable fashion.

The Rockets were in control for most of the game and when they weren’t, they continued to be in striking distance.

If we could only see this type of performance nightly by the Rockets, we’d catapult ourselves to the top of the West and be the team to be reckoned with.

Their shooting was impressive and their defense was admirable.

The thing about this team is that they seem to play with a higher intensity when they face the cream of the crop of the league.

Try this on for size — the Rockets held a team to jut 84 points, a mark that hasn’t been achieved all season and you’d have to go back to the last to find a game where they completed such a feat.

This is certainly one of those games that could cause some momentum shift going through the rest of the season so I hope this equates to more wins for the Rockets.

But, it’s a back-to-back tonight against the 9-20 New Orleans Pelicans who lost in a tight battle with the Miami Heat yesterday in overtime.

They’ll be looking to redeem themselves and the Rockets must be there to curb it.

They can do it — we shall see tonight.

So who’s leading the charge for the Pelicans?

It’s a two-man show!

Anthony Davis leads the team in scoring (23.6 PPG), rebounds (10.9 RPG) and blocks (2.70 BPG). Tyreke Evans holds the dimes down (6.7 APG) and steals (1.30 SPG).

Let’s talk about what the Pelicans do well.

They are decent at putting points up on the board. The Pelicans are 12th in offensive efficiency, putting 102.3 points per 100 possessions.

They are innovative in terms of finding ways to put the ball in the hoop. The Pelicans are tied for 6th — with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns — in true shooting percentage (54.1).

They take care of the basketball. The Pelicans are tied for 6th in league — along with the Memphis Grizzlies– as far as turnover ratio, with only 12.9 percent of their possessions ending with a turnover.

Injuries:

Sam Dekker had back surgery and is expected to miss about a couple more months.

Quincy Pondexter has had numerous setbacks with the knee injury that he has suffered. He’s getting close to a return but it’s to be determined as to when he’ll return. He did participate in a 5-on-5 scrimmage this past Tuesday but that’s closest he has been back to action so far. He was a no-show in yesterday’s match up — a 94-88 loss in overtime — with the Miami Heat. Although he’s making progress, his status is still uncertain and I’d doubt that we’d see him back in the lineup tonight.

Sources: Jenny Dial Creech/Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle and John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Next: Ty Lawson Wants OUT Of H-Town

Three Things to Watch:

Clint Capela vs. Anthony Davis
Patrick Beverley vs. Tyreke Evans
Dwight Howard vs. Omer Asik
(Bonus) James Harden vs. Eric Gordon

Prediction:

104-96 in a Rockets’ win!

The Rockets hit the road to take on the Pelicans at Smoothie King Center.

Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST.

The game will be televised on ROOT Sports Southwest/NBA TV and broadcast on SportsTalk 790 AM (KBME) and La Ranchera 850 AM (KEYH) in Spanish.

Go Rockets!

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