James Harden remains with the Rockets for now. He scored 12 points in 21 minutes in the Houston 112-98 win over the Spurs in a preseason game at Toyota Center. After working out only one day with the team and pushing for a trade, Harden added four assists, three boards and two steals before exiting midway through the third quarter. The Rockets will wrap up preseason play tomorrow night against the Spurs at home.
Post Game Notes:
- With the win, the Rockets improve to 2-1 this preseason with their final game also hosting the Spurs on Thursday. Since going 3-5 in the 2015 preseason, Houston has posted a 19-6 preseason mark.
- The Rockets scored 112 points tonight after having just 91 at Chicago on 12/13. Houston was 40-13 when scoring 110+ points last season and 4-15 when scoring below.
- Houston held San Antonio to 98 points. The Rockets have not allowed more than 104 points in a game this preseason. Houston was 21-3 when holding opponents below 110 points last season.
- The Rockets outshot the Spurs 44.9% to 42.9%. Houston was 25-3 when outshooting its opponent last season and 20-5 when holding the opposition below 45.0% shooting.
- Houston outrebounded San Antonio 51-43 tonight after being outrebounded by an average of 9.5 rpg in the two games vs. Chicago. The Rockets were 20-6 when outrebounding their opponent last season.
- John Wall had a team-high tying 15 points with 3 steals tonight. He has scored a total of 49 points in 69 minutes of play this preseason. Wall led the NBA in total steals with 157 in 2016-17 and has ranked top-10 in that category four times.
- Ben McLemore led all reserves with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He is averaging 11.7 ppg in 20.6 mpg while shooting 52.2% this preseason. McLemore has hit 2 3-pointers in all three games this preseason while shooting 40.0% from behind-the-arc. He averaged 2.5 3FGM on 40.0% shooting in 2019-20.
- James Harden and P.J. Tucker both made their preseason debuts tonight. Harden had 12 points and 4 assists in 21 minutes of play while Tucker also played 21 minutes, scoring 8 points with two 3-pointers made. Harden led the league in scoring in each of the past three seasons. The Rockets were 21-8 when Tucker had 2+ 3FGM in 2019-20.
- DeMarcus Cousins had game-highs of 11 rebounds, 4 steals and a block tonight. He is averaging 7.3 rpg, 2.0 spg and 1.7 bpg in just 17.7 mpg this preseason. Cousins averaged 8.2 rpg, 1.3 spg and 1.5 bpg in just 25.7 mpg in his last season played which was for Golden State in 2018-19.
- Rookie Jae’Sean Tate had 11 points and 7 rebounds in 18 minutes of play off the bench. He is second on the team in rebounding with 17 boards this preseason. Tate was eligible for the 2018 NBA Draft following his senior season at Ohio State and spent the past two seasons playing overseas.
- Lonnie Walker IV had a game-high 17 points for the Spurs. He averaged 11.3 ppg in eight games for San Antonio during the seeding games in Orlando after averaging 5.6 ppg in his first 53 games played in 2019-20.
Photo: San Antonio Spurs