&lt;center&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The season opener, Oct. 30&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/center&gt;

The much anticipated debut of the new Rockets wasn’t a dominant performance as they defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 96-83. It was, however, a taste of what center Dwight Howard would bring to the table as he had 17 points and 26 rebounds. Coach Kevin McHale stuck with his “big” experiment and started Howard at power forward and Omer Asik at center. The two combined for 40 rebounds - more than the entire Bobcats’ roster (37).