The Houston Rockets won their 2019-20 NBA preseason opener on Monday night in a 140-71 rout (full box score) over the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association.
As expected, Russell Westbrook sat out the opener and is expected to make his Houston debut next week. However, James Harden and the rest of the Rockets certainly didn’t need him against an overmatched opponent at Toyota Center in Houston.
An annual NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) frontrunner, Harden had a triple-double (10 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists) by halftime and finished with 10 points, 17 assists, and 12 rebounds in just 21 minutes.
Harden did attempt the one-legged three-point shot that he’s heavily promoted this offseason, but he missed it. However, Westbrook clearly appeared to enjoy it from the Houston bench.
Other standouts in the 69-point victory included Clint Capela, with 25 points (11/13 FG) and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes; Gerald Green, with 21 points (5/6 on three-pointers) in 18 minutes; Ben McLemore, with 17 points (6/16 FG) in 23 minutes; Chris Clemons, with 21 points (7/16 FG) in 19 minutes; and Gary Clark, with 8 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes. Most importantly, no one was injured.
Former Rockets big man Donatas Motiejunas led the way for the Sharks with 27 points (12/23 FG) and 11 rebounds in 38 minutes.
Game highlights can be seen below. Houston’s next preseason game comes Thursday night in Honolulu, Hawaii against the Los Angeles Clippers in a game starting at 7 p.m. local time (midnight in Houston).
