The Rockets defeated the Pelicans! The 12-man rotation lineup was released, and the two-way guards played the entire final quarter. There is no suspense about staying on the team.

With a layup by veteran Aaron Holiday, the Rockets finally defeated the Pelicans by 2 points and won three consecutive preseason victories. This minimum-salary guard does have his own merits. Last season, he overpowered Shepard and came from behind to become VanVleet's first substitute on the Rockets. He can basically play about 15 minutes in each game, and his three-point shooting rate is close to 40%.

Now Holiday's performance on the court is very stable. In this game, he not only made a layup to help the Rockets defeat their opponents, but Holiday's performance is no worse than Shepard. In this game, Aaron Holiday made 3 of 7 shots and 1 of 4 three-pointers in 14 minutes. He contributed 7 points and 4 rebounds without making a single mistake.

In the second team, Holiday has obviously occupied a position, and he should even be ranked above the Rockets' two-way contract point guard Davidson. Davidson only scored 3 points in this game. He made 1 of 4 shots and missed an opportunity for a layup. Judging from the playing time of the players in the game between the Rockets and Pelicans, as well as Uduka's employment plan, the Rockets' 12-man rotation for the new season has basically taken shape.

There have been some changes in the starting lineup. The Rockets used a big lineup, with Adams becoming the starting center and Shepard becoming a substitute. For this game, the Rockets' starting lineup is as follows: point guard Amen Thompson, shooting guard Durant, two forwards Smith Jr. and Shen Jing, and center Adams.

In the second team, 7 players have received stable playing time. Capela and Ethan each got 21 minutes of playing time, and there is no suspense about their inclusion in the rotation. Okogie also got 20 minutes of playing time in this game when Finney Smith was injured. He should be the Rockets' best substitute at the 2 and 3 positions.

Although Sheppard was dropped from the main lineup, he still got 19 minutes of playing time in this game. He made 4 of 8 shots and 3 of 6 three-pointers. He scored 13 points, plus 3 rebounds and 2 assists. His performance was also quite good. In addition, two point guards, Aaron Holiday and Davidson, got 14 and 12 minutes of playing time respectively. 39-year-old forward Jeff Green also got 7 minutes of playing time in this game.

The remaining players such as Harris, Matthews and Crawford were basically hidden. Crawford only played in the last few seconds, but made no contribution. Therefore, these 12 players - that is, 5 starters and 7 substitutes - should be the most commonly used rotation mode for the Rockets after the start of the new season.

VanVleet will miss all games in the new season due to a season-ending injury; Finney Smith is expected to be absent for a period of time, and it will be difficult for him to appear in some games after the start of the regular season. After all, he is still recovering from his injury; although Tate's condition is slightly better, Uduka does not know when Tate will be able to recover and play. Therefore, the 12 players we mentioned above will be the Rockets' main rotation in the new season.

Of course, among the 12 players, the Rockets may only use 9 to 10 players to get more playing time. For example, veteran Jeff Green and rookie point guard Davidson may have slightly less playing time. However, when encountering specific opponents, or when a Rockets player is injured, Davison and Jeff Green will immediately fill in. After all, their strength is there, and they were both used by Uduka in the preseason.

Especially Davidson, in the game against the Pelicans, although he did not play much in the first three quarters, he played the entire last quarter and played 12 minutes. Although he may not necessarily make it into the rotation, there is no suspense that Davidson will eventually stay on the team for the regular season.