Rockets pull away

Jermaine Taylor scored 25 points to help the Houston Rockets to a 100-82 victory over the Phoenix Suns in the second game of the opening day of the NBA Vegas Summer League at Cox Pavilion.
Taylor added seven points and three assists for the Rockets, who outscored the Suns 28-13 in the fourth quarter.
Rookie Patrick Patterson had 18 points, but just two rebounds in 20 minutes for Houston. Jordan Hill had 16 points and five rebounds.
Zabian Dowdell had 16 points for Phoenix, and Gani Lawal and Earl Clark added 14 points each.

Good impression

Houston Rockets guard Jermaine Taylor is fighting for a spot on the regular season roster.
The guard out of Central Florida played in 31 games for the team last season and averaged 4.1 points per outing.
He certainly is using the most of his summer opportunity to prove he deserves another shot on the 2010-11 roster.
Taylor was the best guard on the floor in the second half as he scored 16 points after halftime to help the Rockets pull away.
Jordan Hill, a first-round pick of the Knicks last year, also had a strong second half. The center had 12 points, including several monster dunks, after the break.

Reunited

The Rockets team featured Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill.
Both players were on the team’s roster in the regular season, and are expected to be again, but are playing here to get a bit more experience.
The players were also college teammates at Arizona. They came to UNLV, and were the Wildcats’ top two scorers, two seasons ago and suffered a loss to the Rebels at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Sightings

Legendary Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson is here. He is a Las Vegas fixture, but is likely in attendance to watch former Hoya star Greg Monroe, who will be playing for the Pistons in the next game.