PrintRounding Into Form
Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks shine as Rockets pass midway point of preseason
Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer
HOUSTON - Before the Rockets left for their three-game road trip, head coach Rick Adelman said it was imperative for his team to start making incremental progress on both ends of the court.
So far, so good – even if the results aren’t reflected in the win column.
After going toe-to-toe with the world champion Celtics Saturday night, Houston produced one of its better preseason performances to date, despite falling 110-104 to Oklahoma City.
Monday night’s contest in Tulsa provided several bright spots for Rockets fans, though none was bigger than Yao Ming’s return to dominance. Houston’s man in the middle racked up 15 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks, as he continues to round back into the form that made him a six-time All-Star.
And while the Rockets’ tallest player produced a prime-time worthy performance, the club’s shortest wasn’t too shabby, himself. Attempting to atone for an uneven start to the preseason, Aaron Brooks was electric Monday night; pouring in 20 points – 13 in the second quarter alone. During that splendid second quarter, Brooks used his blinding speed to turbocharge the Rockets’ offense, scoring with a wide variety of runners, jumpers and one breathtaking alley-oop jam on a picture-perfect feed from Brent Barry.
But after leading for the majority of the contest, the Rockets were undone by the reigning rookie of the year. Kevin Durant was unstoppable down the stretch, scoring 20 points in the second half to lead the Thunder to its first preseason win.
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