Finally! First Scrimmage Footage of Dwight Howard with the Rockets

Hallelujah.

It took a week, but the media was finally allowed in early enough to see some Rockets scrimmage action on Thursday (Day 6 of Training Camp). That means we got our first glimpse of Dwight Howard with his new Rocket teammates.

Dwight did have a couple of dunks, including an alleyoop feed from Omri Casspi. I thought Terrence Jones looked really good — he nailed a couple of threes, worked inside and hit the boards and slammed home a missed free throw just before the final buzzer. I thought Donatas Motiejunas looked good as well, hitting a long three early in the first game and scoring inside twice (one was a goaltending block by Dwight).

The Rockets’ coaching staff was really stressing that both teams push the tempo — that much was evident. White Team, led by Jones, Jeremy Lin and Aaron Brooks, knocked off the Black Team, led by Dwight, James Harden and Patrick Beverley. This was the full “second game” with lots of editing to save time on the video. We walked in during the “first game,” but Harden and Howard were both out of the game when we came in. The footage from the first game is now found below as well.

So here you go, hot off the press:

Houston Rockets Scrimmage Action

Additional Scrimmage Footage from the First Game

We came out on to the floor when this short scrimmage was pretty far along, so there’s not as much there. It was the first game, before the one you saw above this. Harden and Howard were out when we came in but quickly returned to the court. Motiejunas had some nice plays in this one.

Dwight Howard Slams

Harden to Ronnie Brewer to Howard for the slam

Casspi finds Howard for the alleyoop