On Oct. 05 of 2017, the Rockets ran circles around the Shanghai Sharks. The game was essentially over after the first quarter and the Rockets won 144-82.
The talent gap between the two teams hasn’t changed much a year later, so Mike D’Antoni decided to hold out a lot of players. Brandon Knight and Nene sat out, as they have the entire preseason.
Clint Capela‘s bruised right hand that he suffered during Houston’s last game kept him off the court and Eric Gordon also missed the game with a sore right Achilles.