The Rockets gave backup center Marquese Chriss a brief run in the first half on Monday before going back to rookie Isaiah Hartenstein. But Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni sounded as if he wanted to keep developing Hartenstein while waiting for Nene to make his season debut.
"They both bring different things," D'Antoni said. "One thing that is constant is Isaiah brings a high level of energy and activity that sometimes we need. We'll kind of look there, but I think it will be solved when we get Nene back.
"Isaiah's good. I like him. He just happens to be 20 and thrown into a position that sometimes he'll make a 20-year-old mistake and we can't afford that, so I get to yell at him.