Houston Rockets Poach New Orleans Pelicans In Shanghai

The Houston Rockets have been off for nearly a week to embark on a historic journey out to Asia. Yes, your team, my team….AMERICA’S TEAM will be playing a slate of games in Shanghai as well as Beijing, China to showcase the utmost in their talents.

The Houston Rockets have been off for nearly a week to embark on a historic journey out to Asia. Yes, your team, my team….AMERICA’S TEAM will be playing a slate of games in Shanghai as well as Beijing, China to showcase the utmost in their talents.

Sorry Craig Ackerman, I had to borrow your tagline.

Let me tell you something — this offense that Mike D’Antoni has put together for the Rockets is going to be fierce once this season gets rolling.

Watching Rockets’ basketball has now become fun again — nothing compared to last season.

I can finally erase those horrible memories of the 2015-16 season!

It truly was the most bizarre season I’ve witnessed in my lifetime and I hope to never do so again.

The Rockets took on the New Orleans Pelicans today in a soiree that had most of us fans — including myself — up early to see this team do work.

As far from what I see, their team defense still needs some tweaking — they gave up 117 points against the Pels today — but all in all, the game was a pleasure to watch.

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Yes, I know it’s the preseason but I’ve been needing my basketball fix since the late spring so the emotions that I’m emitting from this post are certainly a representative of that.

For a game that involved 21 lead changes, 16 ties and with the Rockets leading by as much as 11 points early in the 2nd quarter, this game was more a preview of what we might see against decent talent within the season.

I’m just waiting to see how this offense looks when we face more elite defenses such as with the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs.

And don’t get me wrong, the Pelicans are formidable competition but the true test will come when the season starts.

But anyway, James Harden led the Rockets with 26 points, 15 assists and shot a whopping 11-for-12 from the charity stripe by doing what he does best — drawing fouls.

Through the preseason at least, he looks every bit of good as he did the season prior to this one — where he had a chip on his shoulder and was arguably the runner-up of the league MVP award to Stephen Curry.

Next: Is This Houston Rockets Roster Set For The Season?

It’s compelling stuff to watch.

Six Rockets — including Harden of course — were in double-figures with Eric Gordon throwing in 24 points (5-for-10 from three), Ryan Anderson with 21 points (7-for-14 FG, 4-for-7 3-pt FG, two blocks), and Clint Capela, K.J. McDaniels and Nene contributing 12, 11 and 11 respectively.

I think this team is going to be fine down the road but it’s hard to tell if these guys will commit to both ends of the floor to be the complete package.

I certainly hope that they will because there many instances of rotations that could’ve been a bit better as they reacted to the movement of the ball.

But in due time though.

The Rockets will trek onward for a rematch against the Pelicans this Wednesday in Beijing at The LeSports Center.

Both teams will tip-off at 6:30 a.m. CDT.

Go Rockets.

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