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View Full Version : Great seeing Jones with the rockets playing Davis and Miller on the Hornets



imsoblue
10-25-2012, 08:24 AM
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NEW ORLEANS — Terrence Jones turned into the lane to put up the first shot of the night when he saw a familiar, unibrowed face in his path and a long arm reaching improbably high.

Jones realized before Anthony Davis swatted the shot away that he should have known better and let loose a brief laugh.

Better still, he laughed last.

The first NBA matchup of former Kentucky teammates went like the draft that followed their championship season together. Davis, the first pick of the 2012 draft, started fast; Jones came on strong later.

Jones, the third of the Rockets’ three first-round picks and 18th player selected overall, started with Patrick Patterson out with a strained quad muscle and helped key the Rockets’ second-half surge to a 97-90 win over the Hornets on Wednesday. He scored seven of his 15 points in the third quarter when the Rockets went from a four-point deficit to a lead that reached 17.

“It was great,” Davis said. “He’s a great player and he played great tonight.”

Jones finished with nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot and helped keep Davis without a second-half rebound. Davis had 13 points and eight rebounds, blocking three shots.

“That’s my brother,” Jones said. “Being out there with somebody I’m used to, and just trying to reach the same goal and same dream — and playing against each other while we reach our dreams — is a big opportunity.

“Just to see him back on the court, him and Darius (Miller), old teammates I had a great year with last year, was a great experience.”

Strength vs. length
For all they share — including a series of text messages after the game, Jones predicted — he said they can have “a nice little rivalry” in the NBA. He would not, however, concede the advantage to Davis.

“He’s longer,” Jones said. “When it comes to getting up, I think I’m going to get up faster. It’s a challenge. He has more length, I have more strength. We know each other.”

Jones took the initial bragging rights, with Davis having sat out the previous preseason game between the teams. They largely considered the encounter just for fun, with Miller also getting the start because of the injuries to Hornets guards Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers.

“It’s always fun going against one of my teammates, one of my brothers,” Miller said. “It’s fun talking trash, trying to go at each other. I always knew he was a talented player, a very skilled player, so I expected a lot out of him.”

Jones, Miller and Davis declined to reveal exactly what was said on the court, though they left little doubt that they did not go quietly.

“That’s the game of basketball,” Davis said. “Everybody is going to talk trash. You’ve just got to step on the court and play ball. We’re all in the NBA. No matter who you play, you can’t take them lightly because they’re ex-teammates. You’ve just got to go out there and play ball. It’s a job now.”

Jonesing for run
With that in mind, the playing time with the starters might have been more valuable for Jones than the matchup with Davis was enjoyable. The bulk of his preseason playing time has come with the young second unit. With the starters, he took good shots (his three 3-pointers were late in the shot clock) and was more active in the second half.

“I thought Terrence did some good stuff,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. “He just has to keep on battling. He went and got four offensive rebounds, which I was happy about. On the four turnovers he had, he could take a couple of those easy.”

Still, Jones did what he wanted. He worked with his veteran teammates and played against his young former teammates. Even with Davis’ game-opening blocked shot, Jones planned to remind his friend and new rival how the game finished, not how it began.

“There was no way I could get (the shot) over that,” Jones said of Davis’ game-opening block. “I knew he was going to time that one.

“It was a great game. And us getting the win, ultimately I get the win. That’s all that matters. There’s going to be a little talk tonight.”
link (http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterockets/2012/10/jones-and-the-rockets-have-last-laugh-against-new-orleans/)