Trevon Duval and Danuel House scored 20 points each to help the Houston Rockets defeat the Indiana Pacers, 92-89, in the Las Vegas Summer League opener for both teams at Cox Pavilion on Friday.
After building a solid, eight-point lead in the second quarter, the Pacers let things quickly get out of hand into the second half. Houston went on a quick, 10-0 run to take the lead before halftime and never gave it up. The Rockets’ lead ballooned to as much as 11, and the team never trailed in the second half.
Duval, a Duke product, shot 7-of-10 from the field and contributed a block in his rookie debut for the Rockets. It was a much shakier debut for his fellow rookie guard, De’Anthony Melton, who shot only 3-of-15 from the field en route to six points for the game.
While the Pacers did not manage the win, they did see plenty of production from first-round pick Aaron Holiday. Holiday, who joins brothers Jrue and Justin in the NBA, scored 23 points in his Summer League debut. Big man T.J. Leaf, the Pacers’ 2017 first-round pick, grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, but he shot only 2-of-14 from the floor.
