Takeaways: Jabari Smith Jr. makes veryfirst double-double in loss to Portland

Prized novice Jabari Smith Jr. continued his run of strong summertime league play with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Houston Rockets, however it wasn’t enough to balancedout a cold shooting night for the group in Thursday’s 80-72 (box rating) 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 discomfort), and it revealed with simply 47 points over the last 3 quarters of Thursday’s videogame, integrated. Houston made simply 7-of-38 shots from behind the 3-point arc (18.4%).

Smith linked on 7-of-13 shots total (53.8%), though he was 7-of-8 on two-point shots (87.5%) and 0-of-5 on 3-tips. Fellow novice Tari Eason had 17 points and 7 rebounds, though he shot simply 7-of-19 (36.8%). With Christopher out, the brand-new beginning backcourt of Daishen Nix and TyTy Washington integrated to shoot simply 6-of-19 (31.6%).

In beating 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 variety (50.0%).

We’ll have more protection in the days ahead as the Rockets equipment up for a last summertime league videogame on Saturday night (schedule) versus the Sacramento Kings. For now, here’s a appearance at Thursday’s highlights and instant response by gamers, coaches, media members, and fans.