The Main Event: Rockets vs. Pistons
“THE” game of Summer League so far took place on Tuesday evening when the Houston Rockets took on the Detroit Pistons in Thomas and Mack Center. Why was this game significant you ask? 2021 No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham took the floor for the Pistons, 2021 No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green took the floor for the Rockets and plenty of other high-level, young talents played in this game.
Both Cunningham and Green put on shows for the fans in the arena and both rookies had standout performances once again. Cade Cunningham put up 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists and Jalen Green had another big scoring night, going for 25 points on 6-11 shooting, adding 5 rebounds and 3 assists to his name as well.
Of course Cunningham and Green are going to get all the attention, but there were plenty of other guys on the court that caught my attention in this game. Rookies Alperen Sengun and Josh Christopher for the Rockets and both Killian Hayes and Saben Lee put together solid performances.
For the Rockets, their two first-round rookies in Sengun and Christopher were impactful but in different ways. The Turkish big man Sengun went for 21 points and 8 rebounds, but what impressed me the most about him was his ability to make plays for himself. He has not been known to be much of a guy that can put the ball on the floor and play “iso-like” basketball, but he had a lot of success attacking the likes of Doumbouya and Garza on the Pistons in the paint.
As for Josh Christopher, he finished the game with 15 points on 6-12 shooting, but he also had 7 assists. With Jalen Green being double-teamed at times, Christopher took on a bigger role being a facilitator and this worked out for Houston. He only averaged 1.4 assists in college, but in the NBA, he could definitely be utilized as a playmaker on the wing, especially since he can get out in transition ahead of the pack.
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On the other side of things, both of the Pistons’ guards in Killian Hayes and Saben Lee did not stuff the stat sheets, but they both did make an impact on defense and offense. Next to Cunningham, Killian Hayes is going to be asked to play off-the-ball a lot more than he did last season and while he shot 0-4 from deep in this game, he looked really solid being able to be an off-ball facilitator for his teammates.
Hayes is going to get plenty of chances to prove himself over the course of the 2021-22 season and given that he is still an above-average passer, this duo of him and Cade Cunningham could definitely wind up being special. The French guard made an impact offensively and Saben Lee made his presence felt on defense.
READ MORE: 2021 NBA Summer League Day 2 Review & Headlines
From the second he entered the game off-the-bench, Saben Lee made his presence felt and he drew the tough task of guarding No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green. Overall, Lee held his own quite well against Green early on in the game and his energy is definitely something that Detroit admires, which is one of the reasons they signed him to a new three-year deal.
This Rockets-Pistons game was definitely one of the more thrilling matchups of Summer League so far and definitely featured a lot of players with a very high ceiling. Both of these teams are entering the 2021-22 season still looking to emerge from a rebuild and they both have a handful of young talents who could jump onto the scene rather quickly given the chance to do so.
