Houston Rockets vs. Indiana Pacers game preview

The Houston Rockets open their 2023-24 preseason tonight in Indianapolis.

For the last couple of seasons, the preseason felt like a time of desperation for Rockets fans. Bereft of a superstar, the games turned into something more than they deserved. The preseason itself means quite little. That’s an indisputable fact. However, when you need someone, anyone, to step up and show that they can be the leader of a team, you lose sight of the facts. The same phenomenon occurs during Summer League, where fans use a couple of scrimmages between undrafted rookies and top picks to project a player’s career path for the next 15 years.

And yet, things feel different in Houston these days. Sure, we’re…