The new-look Oklahoma City Thunder got their feet wet against another re-bolstered team in the Houston Rockets, suffering a 104-97 loss in their preseason debut on Tuesday.

Playing without Russell Westbrook, who was out nursing the after-effects of a platelet-rich plasma injection, Carmelo Anthony; the newest star addition to the roster, took over the scoring responsibilities early in the game, scoring the team's first 10 points of the quarter and finishing with a game-high 19 points.

paul george, carmelo anthony
Left and right: Sue Ogrocki/The Associated Press

The starting lineup managed to shoot over 50 percent, but the bench fell flat against a Rockets team that played at a high pace, looking to attack the basket in transition and find open shooters, making 24 of 55 three-point attempts (43.6 percent) and shooting over 70 percent of their field goal attempts from beyond the arc in true Daryl Morey fashion.

“Now that we have a game under our belt, we're able to see some things defensively, offensively,” Anthony said. “I think for the most part is feeling comfortable with one another out there on the court.”

“Offensively is about guys being aggressive and not trying to be overly passive, trying to make the right play all the time. Essentially playing basketball, letting it flow, letting it happen.”

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The Thunder will face the Rockets three times during the season — a reason for concern as they allowed 14 more threes than they made all game, as Houston shot a consistently high percentage.

“I feel early on we were excited to be out there, to get this thing going,” said Anthony. “For the most part, it was just one of those games we wanted to get through. There was some positives about that game, some things that we know we're gonna need to work on. I'm pretty sure tomorrow night you'll see a totally different team after we've had that game in our belt.”

carmelo anthony, chris paul
Sue Ogrocki/The Associated Press

Oklahoma City will reload against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday before taking on the Melbourne United on Oct. 8 and the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 10 to finish its preseason schedule.