Diego de la Paz | FCF

The Rockets have achieved liftoff.

In the first-ever NBA pre-season game held on Philippine soil, the Houston Rockets ran off with the victory over the Indiana Pacers, 116-96, in a one-sided showdown on Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Led by All-Star guard James Harden, who scored 21 points, grabbed five rebounds with five assists, the Rockets (1-1) get their first win of the pre-season five days after suffering a close setback against the Pelicans at home.

The Pacers got off to a sluggish start, giving up 12 straight points in the first three minutes to kick off the match, setting the tone for the rest of the match.

Despite Indiana’s comeback attempt early in the second half that brought down their Texan counterparts to just five, Houston used their quickness to go up against the tall trees of the Pacers to cut them down to size.

Israel native Omri Casspi finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Lithuanian big man Donatas Motiejunas’ 16 points. Chandler Parsons added 15 points to round out their leading scorers.

Paul George led the Pacers (0-2) with 17 points in 29 minutes of action, David West posted 14 points, while Orlando Johnson had all of his 11 points in the 4th quarter in the loss.