Houston Rockets: Player grades from 140-71 win over Shanghai Sharks

James Harden looked like he was in a real-life version of NBA 2K20 in his 21 minutes on the floor. From the start, The Beard was extremely active on the floor as he pushed the ball virtually every time he had it, whether off a make or miss. Harden displayed spectacular court vision as he continuously found creative ways to get open men the basketball. To show just how loose he was playing, James even busted out his new one-legged step-back 3-pointer early in the first quarter, however, didn’t get it to go. Harden notched a triple-double in just 16 first-half minutes and ended the night with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 17 assists.. Guard. Houston Rockets. JAMES HARDEN. A+

ERIC GORDON. B+. Eric Gordon only played 15 minutes in Monday’s game and had a relatively quiet night. That said, he dished out three assists and shot 3-of-8 from the field, with all attempts being from downtown. A couple of Gordon’s threes were from well beyond the 3-point line and looked as pure as his stroke has ever been.. Guard. Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets. CLINT CAPELA. A+. If pushing the pace was a top priority for Mike D’Antoni, Clint Capela certainly got the memo. The big man ran the floor with ease on several occasions, frequently getting fed for easy baskets at the rim. In one sequence in the third quarter, Capela had a Hakeem-like sequence as he blocked a shot on one end, ran the floor and finished the ensuing fast break with a layup off a Harden pass. Clint finished with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds.. Center

B. While not expected to start during the regular season, House Jr. started Monday and showed some nice hustle on the boards, pulling down six in 15 minutes. While he went 0-for-3 from downtown, House made the rest of his attempts to finish 4-for-7 and end the night with eight points. Danuel also showed defensive improvement, particularly when guarding man-to-man, and had a block and steal as a result.. Forward. Houston Rockets. DANUEL HOUSE JR.

B -. Although he only tallied three points and one steal in the win, it’s really hard to give any starter on a team that just won by 69 points anything worse than a B -. PJ Tucker only played 12 minutes, most of which were with a James Harden that came out on fire with the ball in every aspect. Tucker also finished with a plus/minus of plus 25, but then again, so did just about everyone else in the blowout.. Forward. Houston Rockets. PJ TUCKER