Hot Takes on Blazers' Scoot Henderson vs. Rockets' Amen Thompson

It was glorious while it lasted.

What was meant to be one of the marquee matchups of the first night of Las Vegas Summer League between Scoot Henderson and the Portland Trail Blazers versus Amen Thompson and the Houston Rockets was all it was hyped up to be.

Even in a thrilling game that ended on a Jabari Smith Jr. buzzer-beating three for a 100-99 Rockets win, all eyes were on the two rookies that were taken back-to-back in June's NBA Draft.

The top two guard prospects in the class, Henderson (No. 3 overall) and Thompson (no. 4) battled it out admirably at the Thomas and Mack Center in Sin City and took the crowd by storm.

Living up to all the praise that he had coming out of the G League Ignite, Henderson came out looking explosive and poised, everything Portland would want out Damian Lillard's eventual successor.

The 19-year-old star had 13 quick points in the first quarter, including a couple impressive off-the-dribble jumpers and a nice english finish at the rim, trying to show everyone why he believes he was the best player in the draft.

Unfortunately his night was cut short in the third quarter after he suffered a right shoulder injury. He ended the night with 15 points to go along with five rebounds, six assists and a steal in 21 minutes of action.

The young star had NBA Twitter on fire, with Portland fans excited for the season, even with the imminent departure of Lillard

As for Thompson, he showed out as well on both ends of the floor by absolutely stuffing the stat sheet. He finished with 16 points, four rebounds, five assists, three steals and four blocks.

Just giving the Rockets everything they could want and more.

But much like Henderson, Thompson also succumbed to injury, going down with an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter of Houston's win. But his performance showed that the Rockets' future could not be in better hands, even with Fred VanVleet seemingly being the placeholder at the point guard position.

Thompson was as advertised.

Friday night's performances shouldn't just be a bright moment for each respective fanbase, but for the NBA as a whole.

The future of the point guard position has a couple of potential stars on their hands with Henderson and Thompson if they can stay healthy and on this trajectory.

Hopefully it won't be the last time hoop lovers will be able to see them in action this summer.