The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets have made quite a few roster changes this offseason, and on Tuesday night they faced off in their preseason debut. The Thunder added two All-Stars, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George, to their roster hoping they can compete for the NBA championship when the season starts. The Rockets on the other hand, also added an All-Star caliber player, Chris Paul, to their roster this past summer. The two teams hit the floor on Tuesday in Oklahoma in front of a sellout crowd at BOK Center.
Wire-to-wire victory for the Rockets
The Rockets were in control of this game from the opening tip. They held a 27-25 lead after the first quarter, and at halftime, they were up by seven points (59-52). Houston outscored Oklahoma 31-21 in the third quarter and held a comfortable, 90-73 lead, heading into the final period of the game. The Rockets routinely closed out the game and celebrated a 104-97 victory in their preseason debut against the Thunder.
Eric Gordon was the leading scorer in this game, as he came off the bench and scored 21 points for the Rockets. Trevor Ariza added 18 points for the Rockets while James Harden contributed with 16 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds.
Carmelo Anthony led the Thunder in scoring on Tuesday night with 19 points in 19 minutes of playing time.
He also added four rebounds and shot 3-of-5 from the three-point line. Paul George added 15 points and five rebounds for Oklahoma while Jerami Grant scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Clippers with an easy victory against the Raptors
The Los Angeles Clippers and the Toronto Raptors met again on Tuesday in their second straight matchup in Hawaii this offseason.
The game was played at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, as the Clippers were looking to win their first game this offseason. They opened up the game with a 28-point first quarter and led 28-19 after the first 12 minutes of the game. They were up by 13 points (62-49) at halftime, and the game was already decided after the third quarter since the Clippers held an 88-60 lead.
The Raptors managed to cut that lead down to 14 points as Los Angeles took a 98-84 win in this one.
Blake Griffin led the Clippers in scoring on Tuesday with 17 points and four rebounds, while DeAndre Jordan added 15 points and eight rebounds. Danilo Gallinari contributed with 11 points for the Clippers but he shot just 2-for-8 from the floor.
For the Raptors, it was DeMar DeRozan who led them in scoring with 15 points and he also dished out four assists. Jonas Valanciunas also played a solid game for Toronto as he finished with 11 points and six rebounds in 18 minutes of playing time.
