Pelicans rookie, Celtics soaring
Preseason numbers often mean almost nothing. Rotations are unusual, and starters rarely play much.
But what the Boston Celtics and New Orleans rookie Zion Williamson — the No. 1 pick from Duke in this year’s draft — have been doing so far in the preseason certainly stands out.
Williamson has been flying high. The Pelicans are 40 in the preseason after winning in San Antonio on Sunday, with Williamson finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds. He’s shot 29for36 from the floor in his past three games, and is averaging 23.3 points and 6.5 rebounds on 71% shooting — all in about 27 minutes per game.
The Celtics are 30 after beating Cleveland 11872 on Sunday — and have put together a huge run in three games. The latest was a 5017 spurt against the Cavaliers, a game that was close for most of the first quarter before Boston built what eventually became a 54point lead.
No matter who the Celtics have on the court, defense has been the constant. Boston is holding opponents to 36.5% shooting through the first three exhibitions, including 25.7% from 3point range.
“That’s a tiedtogether group on that end of the court,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said.
Rockets return: The Rockets are back home in Houston, looking to leave behind the distractions from their trip to Asia.
Two games in Japan were overshadowed by the aftermath of a tweet by general manager Daryl Morey in support of antigovernment protesters in Hong Kong, angering fans and officials in China.
In their first practice since returning, the Rockets insisted they wouldn’t let the fallout distract them.
“We still got good work in,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Everything’s fine, but you know what happened (is) regrettable, and it happened, but as I said, our work will get done.”
P.J. Tucker denied that dealing with this situation has been a distraction to this team trying to contend for a title.
“This time of season, everybody’s getting in shape, getting ready for the season, focusing in,” Tucker said. “So with all of the things that go on in life, and whatever, this is still our job, so we still come in and do our job every single day.”
The Rockets were in Hawaii on Oct. 4 to play a preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers on the way to Japan for two games when Morey tweeted an image that said: “Fight For Freedom. Stand With Hong Kong.” His tweet was in reference to prodemocracy demonstrations in the semiautonomous Chinese territory that has been mired in violence between protesters and law enforcement.
The tweet was deleted soon after it was posted. Morey was at the Toyota Center in Houston on Sunday but did not speak to reporters and was not at the small portion of practice that media was permitted to attend.
Injury report: The Rockets could be without swingman Gerald Green for several months, with multiple news outlets reporting that he has a broken left foot.
The Houston Chronicle reported that Green was hurt Thursday in a preseason game against the Raptors in Tokyo on a putback dunk. He left the court a few possessions later.
Clippers swingman Paul George, recovering from shoulder surgery, is likely to be sidelined for at least the first 10 games, head coach Doc Rivers told USA Today.