The Rockets have gradually reduced James Harden's playing time to 36.5 minutes per game. That's still seventh-most in the NBA, but it is his fewest in five seasons with the Rockets.
With the addition of Lou Williams to provide another scorer off the bench, there was hope to trim another few minutes from Harden's workload down the stretch of the season, particularly if they can do it the way they did in Thursday's blowout win.
"The best way to get minutes off them, like last night, is win by 30 and they sit out the whole fourth quarter," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said.