The Houston Rockets signed Dwight Howard in the offseason to try and win a championship and so far the team has taken steps in the right direction, as the team has won its first game and now has an anticipated matchup against the Dallas Mavericks at the Toyota Center starting up at 8:00 pm.
Dwight Howard had a very nice home debut against the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday, putting up a double-double with 26 rebounds and the franchise is hoping that the first game is a sign of things to come for the center, who is considered one of the top players at his position in the NBA. Howard is an All-Star and a defensive player of the year and now he brings that to Houston, a team that ranked near the bottom of the NBA last season in points allowed. The team was one of the highest scoring in the league with James Harden and Chandler Parsons and now adding Howard to that mix should only make things more productive for Kevin McHale and his team, especially with Howard playing a nice amount of minutes.
Check here for the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks Live Stream coverage.
Harden led the way with 21 points and five assists for the Rockets against the Bobcats and Howard did more than just grab rebounds, as he had 17 points and two assists to go along with two blocks and if he continues to put up stat lines like that in the league, he should be getting Houston deep into the playoffs to at least into a top seed in the west. Howard was not fully healthy last season and it showed, as the Lakers struggled too often and now it appears that the off season has given him enough time to get things right with his back and that could mean some trouble for the rest of the conference.
The Lakers made a pitch to Howard, but he was having none of it and most of the predictions came true with his move to Houston and now the Rockets are setting themselves up for a run in the Western conference. The set is deep with teams like the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs and of course the Oklahoma City Thunder and now the Rockets look ready to do it after the moves they have made. Howard has had a number of 20 rebound games in his career and now the team is looking for their second straight victory after taking down the Charlotte Bobcats in the opener and after that the team will play against the Utah Jazz on the road for the first time.
Jeremy Lin will get the start against the Bobcats after Patrick Beverley took over his starting job and now that he is out against the Mavs on Friday, Lin will be back in the starting lineup. Coach Kevin McHale has said that he feels like he has two starting point guards and now with just two games into the season, he will get the chance to see the two of them in action over that time. Lin obviously was the starter all last season and it remains to be seen whether Beverley will get the starting job back when he returns, but if Lin plays well, he likely will get the chance to continue running with it, as he did a good job with James Harden and Chandler Parsons and the rest of the roster.