The Houston Rockets emerged victorious in the first-ever NBA preseason game held in the country, beating the Indiana Pacers, 116-96, in the Global Games Philippines 2013 last night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Rockets got off to a fast start, thanks to James Harden who scored 10 of his 21 points in the first period on a variety of perimeter jumpers and dribble-drive layups, that pushed his team to a 31-24 lead. Houston then finished strong as Asian sensation Jeremy Lin connived with Omri Casspi and Donatas Motiejunas in the fourth period to pull away from the Pacers and get their first win of the preseason.
Caspi scored 14 of his 17 points in the payoff period while also adding 10 rebounds. Motiejunas also helped provide the finishing kick with 10 of his 16 points coming in that same stretch. Lin, who came off the bench, had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists even as fellow point guard Patrick Beverley notched 12 markers. Prized center Dwight Howard battled foul trouble and had just nine points and a mere three rebounds.
Afterwards, Houston head coach Kevin Mchale said he was happy for the strong start that started from their effort on the defensive end of the floor.
“We got out to a fast start and it really started from our defense,” said the Boston Celtics legend.
The Rockets achieved lift off early on as they scored the game’s first 12 points with Beverley and Harden hitting three-pointers and Terrence Jones scoring inside. They led 23-8 before the Pacers got their act together and came close, 55-61, at the half.
The Pacers continued to rally and were within five when Harden got going again, scoring eight in the third, his corner three-pointer putting them up, 84-73.
“We got a great opportunity in the West. We just have to get better everyday as a team and make sure we’re on the same page,” said Harden in the postgame press conference.
The Pacers were within striking distance, 81-88, but Lin rose up for a fastbreak layup and made two free-throws, and later added two more to put some more separation between them, 97-83, 6:16 left in the match.
Indiana head coach Frank Vogel lamented the team’s lack of effort on defending the transition attack of the Rockets.
“We have to work better on our ball containment. It was a tough loss,” he said.