The rain outside broke into Loddon Valley as buckets poured in at unfathomable rates as the Rockets beat Thames Valley 124-102
Reading had six players in double digits while the Cavaliers had five. Troy Cracknell led the Rockets, and the game, in points. Putting up a 31 point, 8 rebound and 6 assist performance. Ben Dixon showed off his range throughout the game, hitting four of his five threes, leading to a 17 point performance. Reis Pinnock had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Shaq Lewis put up 28 points in his first game back from injury for the Cavaliers with Bode Adeluola helping out with 22 points of his own.
Despite the slow start to the season, Reading had won four of their last five games before the Christmas break. The Rockets wanted to start the year with the same bang they ended 2022 on. They beat the Essex Rebels by 18 in 2022 and then beat the Cavaliers by 22 in 2023.
In front of a loud Loddon Valley and the NBL Live cameras, the two four win teams put on a show. The Rockets ended the game shooting 55% from within the arc, 57% from outside the arc and 88% from the free throw line. While Thames Valley shot 60% from two, 40% from three and 72% from the line.
It was the Rockets who fired first, with Pinnock and Dixon hitting threes while Jordan Jackson nailed a mid range jump shot for a quick 8-0 start. Jackson would then go on to dunk right over a Cavalier defender to make it 12-3, and that play would be a good indicator for the energy shown in the rest of the game.
It would be Cracknell who would lead the strong scoring for the rest of the quarter, where he ended up with 16 first quarter points in a 32-17 Rocket lead.
The second quarter was more of a rocky ride for Reading as the Cavaliers found their footing, scoring 35 points and bringing the lead down to just seven.Without Cracknell to start the second, the Rockets kept a consistent scoring pace early in the second, with Lewis Champion and Zack Powell finding their way onto the stat sheet. With six and a half minutes left to go, a flip switched for Thames Valley and they were virtually impossible to stop for the rest of the quarter.
Lewis, after being injured for the last couple months, gave the Rockets all sorts of issues inside and on the offensive boards. The rebounding leading to multiple open threes. The Rockets kept up enough of an offense to finish the half up 59 to 52
For the first time in the game, the third quarter would be tightly contested with both teams going blow for blow.
Reading started the hotter of the two teams. Jermiah Jenkins hit a lovely pull up mid range shot to bring the lead up to 16, but Thames Valley stayed within touching distance and with just two minutes left in the quarter, Adeluola hit a big three to bring the lead to just 10.
With the score 83-71 to start the fourth, neither team slowed down. Thames Valley started the quarter running, and got an easy fastbreak layup out of it. But the Rockets responded immediately with a quick shot of their own, with Jenkins nailing a three.
Six different scorers for the Rockets to start the fourth ballooned the lead to 22 as Zack Powell notched Reading’s 100th point of the game with six and half minutes to go.
Cracknell and Pinnock essentially finished off the game with 3 and half minutes left after a quick seven point run forced the Cavaliers to take a timeout down 25. Coach Nuruzade emptied his bench, allowing his younger players to get some minutes.
But the show wasn’t over yet as Pete Walker nailed a trio of threes in the final minutes of a game, one of them being a heave as the shot clock ran out. Lighting up the home crowd as the final seconds ticked off.
Next game is another home game, as the Rockets take on the Derby Trailblazers at Loddon Valley.