Takeaways: Jabari Smith Jr. earns first double-double in loss to Portland
Prized rookie Jabari Smith Jr. continued his run of strong summer league play with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Houston Rockets, but it wasn’t enough to offset a cold shooting night for the team in Thursday’s 80-72 (box score) loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in Las Vegas.
The Rockets were short-handed on offense after shutting down leading scorer Josh Christopher (right hip soreness), and it showed with just 47 points over the final three quarters of Thursday’s game, combined. Houston made just 7-of-38 shots from behind the 3-point arc (18.4%).
Smith connected on 7-of-13 shots overall (53.8%), though he was 7-of-8 on two-point shots (87.5%) and 0-of-5 on 3-pointers. Fellow rookie Tari Eason had 17 points and 7 rebounds, though he shot just 7-of-19 (36.8%). With Christopher out, the new starting backcourt of Daishen Nix and TyTy Washington combined to shoot just 6-of-19 (31.6%).
In defeating Houston (2-2), the Trail Blazers (3-1) were led by 23 points from second-year guard Keon Johnson, who shot 8-of-13 from the field (61.5%) and made 4-of-8 from 3-point range (50.0%).
We’ll have more coverage in the days ahead as the Rockets gear up for a final summer league game on Saturday night (schedule) versus the Sacramento Kings. For now, here’s a look at Thursday’s highlights and immediate reaction by players, coaches, media members, and fans.
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Highlights
Jabari Smith tonight:
19 points
10 rebounds
2 assists
1 block7/13 FG
0/5 3FG
5/7 FTReally encouraging seeing Jabari put the ball on the floor to draw fouls and create for himself.
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) July 15, 2022
Hell of a game for Jabari Smith Jr. considering he went 0-5 from 3:
19 points
10 rebounds
2 assists
1 block59.1% True Shooting
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) July 15, 2022
Jabari Smith shot 7-of-8 from inside the arc (87.5%) tonight. Once he develops a 3-point shot to go with that body control and strength, they'll really have something https://t.co/FIqmHtQJ1h
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) July 15, 2022
Summer Rockets fall to 2-2 in Las Vegas, losing to the Summer Blazers 85-77. Rockets made just 7 of 38 3s. Jabari Smith Jr. went for 19 and defended well again, but was 0 for 5 from deep. Tari Eason had 17 but was 7 of 19. Final game schedule TBD this weekend.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) July 15, 2022
Nice spin move by Jabari Smith, getting all the way to the rim for two. pic.twitter.com/C504YmMtnc
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) July 15, 2022
Tari Eason has missed some serious bunnies tonight.
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) July 15, 2022
This Jabari block was bigtime help defense. pic.twitter.com/GFQZsln46e
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) July 15, 2022
Stephen Silas on Jabari Smith Jr.: "I think he can play 3, 4, 5. He's not afraid of anybody on the defensive end…His shooting ability is gonna be huge for our group…He can really benefit from [Jalen Green, KPJ] making plays for him."
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) July 15, 2022
Stephen Silas described the Rockets players in Summer League as "two-way players, which we sorely needed."
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) July 15, 2022
TyTy Washington and Tari Eason link up for an off the glass oop! pic.twitter.com/SK2hbydrnL
— NBA (@NBA) July 15, 2022
The NBA 2K23 Summer League schedule for Saturday, July 16 ⬇️
All game times listed are Pacific Time. pic.twitter.com/9LTGiQBiGV
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) July 15, 2022
