When the Houston Rockets faced the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night in Birmingham, Alabama, first-year head coach Ime Udoka hoped to see the same amount of hustle and competitiveness his young core displayed in Tuesday’s preseason opener versus Indiana.
“In training camp, they played hard,” Udoka said after Houston’s 122-103 victory over the Pacers. “We had to pull them back at times because they are so competitive and going at each other. It was good to see them go against somebody else, but the effort is something I talked about the first day, and they never lacked as far as that goes.”
Even though they were missing defensive ace Dillon Brooks for most of the game due to his early ejection for hitting Indiana’s Daniel Theis below the felt, the Rockets held Indiana to 23.8% from 3-point range. They also outscored them 58-40 in the paint.
“I feel that every team is a good test,” Smith said after practice on Wednesday. “Every team plays different and has its strength in different areas, so every night is a different test, and you have to focus on different things.” #Liftoff #Sarge @TheRocketsWire pic.twitter.com/mQ3MsyJgnS
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) October 12, 2023
‘We just wanted to be aggressive and attack, especially early in offensive transition,” Udoka told reporters during his postgame press conference. “We have a lot of multiple ball handlers who can get the ball and push it, and I think you saw that a little bit.”
As they head into the matchup with the Pelicans, the goal is for the Rockets to tighten up on defense and communicate more when switching to different offensive opponents. Indiana exploited Houston’s weakness to defend and was allowed to take a lot of open shots due to the lack of communication among the players on the floor.
Second-year forward Jabari Smith Jr. knows that New Orleans will watch the film from the previous game and try to take advantage of a team still getting used to being on the floor together.
“I feel that every team is a good test,” Smith said following Wednesday’s practice from Toyota Center. “Every team plays different and has its strength in different areas, so every night is a different test, and you have to focus on different things.”
