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By: Gordon Yancey/ghysports

Game 2 of the Houston Rockets preseason took place last night at 7:00 pm Central Time against the Utah Jazz.

The final score was 140 to 127, resulting in a Houston Rockets win.

Kevin Durant finally made his Houston Rockets debut, scoring 20 Points in 23 minutes of play.

The first few minutes of the game were rough. It seemed like the team was trying to force-feed KD the ball. Once he finally scored his first basket, the team calmed down and looked like a well-oiled machine. His presence on the court has already helped a few other Rockets tremendously, like Alperen Sengun. Alpi finished with 13 points, 13 assists, and 5 rebounds. He is already looking like he is in mid-season form. The game seems to have slowed down even more this year for him, which is big news with Fred VanVleet seemingly out for the season. The offense was running through Sengun last night, which resulted in KD, Amen, Sheppard, and Jabari getting very easy looks on offense. Jabari Smith Jr. finished with 18 points while shooting 60% from behind the arc. He will need to step up this season and become a larger offensive threat, which is something we saw at times last year. With KD and Jabari being similar sizes and having almost an identical game on offense, I could see Jabari stepping up and being more of an offensive weapon this year.

Amen Thompson is an athletic demon who has always been an elite passer, with First Team All-Defensive attributes. He has always been able to get to the rim at ease and finish over any player in the NBA. The question has always been “Will he ever be able to shoot?” We finally have our answer, and it is YES. In the first two games, Amen has had no hesitation with his shot. The shot is looking more fluid than it did in his first two seasons, and he is making them at a higher percentage. I would not be shocked if Amen was able to make an all-star game this year, especially since he will most likely be our main ball handler.

Now for the questions…

According to head coach Ime Udoka, the first two games of pre-season were warm-up games, and the final two will serve as “dress rehearsals” to ramp up for the start of the regular season. As we enter the final 2 games, I am trying to figure out what the rotation will look like. Dorian Finney-Smith will miss the first little bit of the season as he recovers from an ankle surgery, so I am expecting more minutes from Tari Eason and Josh Okogie, but which one will get his minutes? My bet would personally be on Tari Eason getting an expanded role, which is something he has been vocal about wanting for this upcoming year. Will Aaron Holiday and JD Davison continue to split minutes? Will Ime only use 1 of them? I believe that he will probably use them both in the first half of games, and then ride with whichever one is having a better game for the second half. Ime has not been shy about benching players who are not playing up to par, so I believe this will be the system he runs with.

The next game that the Rockets will play will be in New Orleans against the Pelicans. That game takes place next Tuesday, October 14th, at 7:00 pm Central Time.