Rockets beat D-League All-Stars in summer league debut
In their first game at Las Vegas Summer League, the Houston Rockets defeated the D-League All-Stars without Sam Dekker, Nick Johnson, Clint Capela and Montrezl Harrell. Those are the four players most Rockets fans want to see, being that they're the four guys most likely to make Houston's regular season roster.
But in light of their absence, how did other players do? Well enough to win 111-104. SB Nation's Rockets blog The Dream Shake was there, and had an up close and personal look at a few of the team's unsung heroes:
"First and foremost, Alan Williams. The former UC Santa Barbara Gaucho (not to be confused with the Santa Cruz Banana Slugs or the Long Beach State Dirtbags) is a 6-8, 261-pound bull of a prospect. He was matched up with Hasheem Thabeet a fair amount of the game, and scored EASILY over his long arms, had no trouble boxing him out, and led all players in rebounds. The Rockets have long had a surplus of undersized power forwards, but this one I want. He finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds. The other two guys who looked like NBA players were Glen Rice Jr. and Christian Wood. There were times when Wood wasn't engaged, and he didn't play most of the second half (just 14 minutes overall), but he shot 4 of 4 and looked confident stroking the ball. I would have liked to see him play more, but there wasn't any explanation offered for why he sat (maybe saving him for games against real NBA players?)."
If the Rockets can beat an All-Star team (granted, they're from the D-League) without their four best players, it should be interesting to see what they do after Dekker, Harrell, Johnson and Capela return to action.
It's only summer league, but so far Houston is off to a fantastic start.
(h/t: The Dream Shake)
Photo Credit: Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
