Durant had an amazing debut! The Rockets defeated the Jazz, Shen Jing had 13 points and 13 assists! Rookie Bailey hit 25+6

The NBA preseason showdown is in full swing. The Rockets and Jazz are competing. It is worth mentioning that Durant will make his Rockets career debut in this game. When talking about the Rockets, KD said that he seemed to see some shadows of the Thunder era: "The youthful energy is very similar to the Thunder. The team at that time was very unique, and I think this team is also unique now. You can see on the court, everyone around the court is full of energy, the training staff and coaching staff are full of youthful atmosphere, I think it is very similar. We were also in the early stages of trying, and The start-up atmosphere can be felt here now. "

For the Rockets, after welcoming Durant, they are very hopeful to achieve a breakthrough in the new season. They were already second in the Western Conference last season, and Durant increased their playoff ceiling. Not only that, the Rockets also strengthened role players this summer, introducing high-quality immediate players such as Finney Smith and Capela to improve the depth of the bench lineup. The only pity is that the Rockets currently lack a point guard. The point guard is supported by VanVleet alone, but Van Jordan was accidentally injured in training. At the beginning of the new season, the young Shepard is likely to be put into the starting lineup. If Shepard cannot adapt, the Rockets are expected to introduce a point guard on the market, and Westbrook may be one of their targets. Who doesn't want to see Westbrook and Durant team up again after so many years?

In this game, the two sides have starting lineups. The Rockets are sending Shepard, Amen Thompson, Durant, Smith Jr. and Shen Jing, and the Jazz are sending George, Bailey, Nurkic, Hendricks, and Mykhailiuk. At the beginning of the first quarter, the Jazz won the jump ball and got the ball first. Hendricks faced the basket and scored the first goal of the game with a pull-up jumper. Smith Jr. also opened the Rockets with a three-pointer. Not to be outdone, Bailey fired a three-pointer from the same position and hit back with a goal. Nurkic and Hendricks scored two empty three-pointers in a row. Nurkic also made a tip-in. The Jazz took the initiative in the beginning and launched a 13-3 offensive. Soon, the Rockets regained their form, and Durant's iconic catch-and-shoot jump shot was a solid success, scoring the first point of the Rockets' career.

Amen Thompson's one-handed smash and dunk from an air cut to the basket shocked everyone. Sheppard's lateral three-pointer hit the center of the net. The Rockets counterattacked and quickly equalized the score. For a while, the two teams chased each other and alternated the lead. At the end of the first quarter, the Jazz led the Rockets by 25-23 by 2 points. At the beginning of the second quarter, Williams' dunk on the basket helped the Jazz take the lead. Davison confidently shot a super long-range three-pointer, which blossomed directly. Durant squeezed into the basket and made a layup to create damage. He stood on the free throw line and made two free throws. Shen Jing made a layup and missed two points. The offensive efficiency of both sides is very high. Durant plays very actively. After passing hands, he breaks through the opponent and ignites the whole audience. He really gets more and more awesome as he gets older. Thompson also got into the basket and scored an extra penalty.

The Rockets gained a slight lead in the second quarter. At the end of the half, the Rockets led the Jazz by 6 points 67-61. At the beginning of the second half, the game changed sides again. Smith Jr. raised his hand and hit a three-pointer from the wing, kicking off the third quarter. Bailey's dreamy steps in the penalty area swayed away from the defense and easily scored a goal. After a fierce confrontation, Durant's gliding shot went into the center of the net. George advanced with the ball and hit the board with a high-speed layup. In the middle of the third quarter, Durant exploded and his shots were flawless. He made all 4 shots in a single quarter and scored 12 points, which was astonishingly efficient. However, the Jazz are also quite tenacious. Although the Jazz have limited book strength and have not fielded the strongest lineup, they have always clung to the score and their shooting percentage is also super high, with the overall shooting percentage approaching 60%.

After three quarters, the Rockets led the Jazz by 6 points 107-101. In the decisive battle in the final quarter, Love got the ball under the basket easily, Sensabaugh made a powerful layup in the penalty area and scored, Davidson rushed into the penalty area and fired a throw, and Holiday floated an open three-pointer and shot through the heart. The Rockets bench still maintained high offensive firepower in the final quarter and extended their advantage to the end. In the end, the Rockets defeated the Jazz 140-127.

In terms of statistics, for the Rockets, Durant's debut can be described as explosive. He scored 20 points and 2 rebounds on 7 of 10 shots, Shen Jing had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 13 assists, Amen Thompson had 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, Smith Jr. had 18 points and 3 rebounds, Shepard had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, and Holiday had 11 points. For the Jazz, Asberry, the No. 5 pick this year, was quite amazing. He scored 25 points and 6 rebounds on 11-of-16 shooting. Sensabaugh had 24 points and 3 rebounds. Nurkic had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. George had 16 points and 9 assists. Hendricks had 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.