Houston Rockets vs. Memphis Grizzlies preseason recap: Capela shines in win

On a night where the star guards were off for the Rockets, some other contributors stepped up big.

The Houston Rockets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies tonight 101-89. They improve to 4-0 this preseason, including three wins by more than 10 points. The Grizzlies fall to 2-2.

Chris Paul and James Harden both struggled tonight. It was the first time that the two have not looked super comfortable playing next to each other. Still, it’s just the preseason and the stars have much to learn.

The defense has been incredible this preseason and has yet to give up 100 points to an opponent.

Let’s look at some stats!

Notable Statistics

Clint Capela: 15 points (5/5 from the free throw line), 9 rebounds, 5 blocks

Trevor Ariza: 16 points (4/6 from 3PT), 8 rebounds

James Harden: 18 points, 9 assists, 6 turnovers

Chris Paul: 9 points, 6 assists, 4 turnovers

The two stars combined to shoot 5/25 from the field with 10 turnovers. Yikes. Thankfully, the team defense was fantastic and the offense of some role players was great. Luc Mbah a Moute had a good game as well, scoring 10 points and 2/4 shooting from 3.

Clint Capela just looked incredible tonight. Everything that could go right did for him. 5/5 from the free throw line is a very encouraging statistic.

Trevor Ariza continued his quietly strong preseason for the Rockets with another 15+ points game. His rebounding has also looked great.

There were not a lot of great stat lines from the Grizzlies tonight. Andrew Harrison led the way with 17 points and 6 rebounds.

The Highlights

The moment you’ve all been waiting for: let’s get into the highlights.

Here’s one of Capela’s five blocks tonight:

https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/918313474232672257

He has the chance to be an even better defender this year.

Here is what may have been the highlight of the night. James Harden steals the ball and then brilliantly passes it to Ariza:

https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/918322249844871168

Here are a few more highlights from the NBA Twitter account, including a nice lob from Harden to Capela:

The @HoustonRockets remain undefeated in the #NBAPreseason & defeat the @memgrizz 101-89 behind Capela's 15 PTS, 9 REBS & 5 BLKS! pic.twitter.com/JGGZ98VgyM

— NBA (@NBA) October 12, 2017

The Rockets will be back at it again on Friday as they look to go undefeated throughout the preseason. They will host the San Antonio Spurs!

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Next: James Harden looks ready for the season