{"id":223884,"date":"2025-10-14T11:46:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T11:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/223884\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T11:46:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T11:46:07","slug":"pelicans-rockets-meet-in-herb-jones-homecoming-game-in-birmingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/223884\/","title":{"rendered":"Pelicans, Rockets meet in Herb Jones homecoming game in Birmingham"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the third time in four years, the New Orleans Pelicans will play an NBA preseason contest in Birmingham, coming to the Magic City for another Herb Jones<\/a> homecoming game.<\/p>\n

The Pelicans forward starred at Hale County High School and Alabama before entering the NBA as a second-round selection in the 2021 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

New Orleans and the Houston Rockets will square off in an NBA preseason game at 7 p.m. CDT Tuesday at Legacy Arena at the BJCC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always great to see some family and friends,\u201d Jones said <\/a>on Monday.<\/p>\n

Jones won the Alabama Sports Writers Association\u2019s Class 4A Player of the Year Award for the 2016-17 season when he led Hale County to the AHSAA championship. Jones concluded his college career with the Crimson Tide as the SEC Player of the Year and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year for the 2020-21 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019ll have the loudest cheers when he steps on the floor,\u201d Pelicans coach Willie Green said<\/a> on Monday. \u201cBut it\u2019s a credit to the city. It\u2019s a credit to the state that they\u2019re big-time sports fans. They love supporting their teams, and we\u2019re excited to get there and play a really good game.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, Jones isn\u2019t the only former Alabama high school star in the contest. Houston guard JD Davison <\/a>earned Alabama\u2019s Mr. Basketball Award for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons while leading the Calhoun School in Letohatchee to the AHSAA Class 2A championship in each campaign.<\/p>\n

Davison played in 36 games for the Boston Celtics over the previous three NBA seasons. After winning the NBA Gatorade League Most Valuable Player Award for the 2024-25 season, Davison signed a two-way contract with the Rockets.<\/p>\n

Davison played one season at Alabama. His Houston teammate, forward Jabari Smith Jr.<\/a>, played one season at Auburn before joining the Rockets as the third pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

The Pelicans are playing in Birmingham because the city is the home of New Orleans\u2019 NBA G League affiliate, the Squadron. <\/p>\n

Jones hopes the Pelicans are building a fan base in his home state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think any NBA team played in Alabama, not that I can remember growing up,\u201d Jones said<\/a>. \u201cSo I think the fans kind of gravitate towards whoever plays in Alabama to show the fans love.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pelicans played preseason games against the Atlanta Hawks in 2022 and the Rockets in 2023 in Birmingham.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest thing for us is having an opportunity to continue to expand the game,\u201d Green said<\/a>, \u201cespecially with our team in a different market that we wouldn\u2019t play in during the regular season. So when you have games like this going into different markets, it\u2019s exciting getting to see the fans in Alabama. Obviously, our G League team is there, but it\u2019s a great experience for our whole group.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pelicans are picking up their preseason schedule after playing two games in Melbourne, Australia. New Orleans defeated Melbourne United 107-97 on Oct. 3 and the South East Melbourne Phoenix 127-92.<\/p>\n

The Rockets, who added 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant in the offseason, also have played two preseason games. Houston defeated the Hawks 122-113 on Oct. 6 as Davison scored 17 points and the Jazz 140-127 on Oct. 8 as Smith scored 18 points.<\/p>\n

Fans at Tuesday night\u2019s game could see more of the New Orleans starting lineup than a normal preseason game. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll try to bump their minutes up a little bit more for this third game,\u201d Green said<\/a>, \u201cand then again evaluate our team and see where we are after that. Probably dial it down a little bit in the fourth game. So we\u2019ll get them up in the third against Houston, and then just again it\u2019s an evaluation and see how they feel, see how their bodies feel. But definitely want to get a good run at it this next game.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Tuesday night\u2019s game, the Pelicans have one preseason contest remaining before they tip off the regular season against the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 22.<\/p>\n

The Rockets also will have one preseason game left before starting the regular season against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 21.<\/p>\n

\"HoustonHouston Rockets guard JD Davison plays during an NBA preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 6, 2025, at the Toyota Center in Houston.(AP Photo\/Ashley Landis)<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the third time in four years, the New Orleans Pelicans will play an NBA preseason contest in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-223884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}