Houston Rockets: 3 takeaways from 2018-19 season opener

2. Defense must be better

On an evening where the most teams across the league anticipated entering the fray of battle, the buzz around the new season did not appear to ring true with the Rockets. The Pelicans took advantage of their lackluster energy by putting together an impressive performance against their defense on Wednesday night.

Houston, which finished seventh among all teams in defensive rating a season ago, failed to find any answer for New Orleans’ pace-and-space attack. The Pelicans picked their defense apart with the help of Davis, as the former Kentucky product took advantage of several mismatches in isolation on the way to dropping several highlight dimes in the process.

"“We were kind of stagnant at times,” Rockets forward Gerald Green said when asked about the team’s defensive miscues throughout the contest. “They did a good job of spacing, getting to where they needed to get to, and honestly I don’t think that they really felt our pressure defensively enough.”"

How the Rockets’ defense performs throughout the course of the year remains to be seen, but no one can deny their first outing was arguably their worst as a unit in recent memory. This team that finished with the best record in basketball last season failed to stay disciplined in multiple rotations and looked completely out of sync throughout, allowing the Pelicans to convert on a whopping 61.7 percent of their shots in the opening half and ultimately score 76 of their 131 points in the paint.

Should the following trends continue over the next few months, there is a strong chance the Rockets coaching staff could be in for a long season. General manager Daryl Morey might have to work his magic to help the franchise salvage its championship aspirations much sooner than anticipated if this continues.