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

Josh Paredes

Houston Rocketsa (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

The Houston Rockets kicked off NBA action for the 2019-20 season with a 140-71 victory over the Shanghai Sharks on Monday and had some standout performances.

While not playing their full roster due to injuries and scheduled maintenance of superstar Russell Westbrook, the Houston Rockets appeared to be having fun on the way to a dominant 140-71 win over the Shanghai Sharks. It was made clear from the getgo that Coach Mike D’Antoni was emphasizing picking up the pace for his team, as they raced off to a 36-14 first-quarter lead.

The Rockets also started off sharing the ball well, particularly James Harden, as he continuously pushed the pace whenever possible and found teammates in transition for easy buckets. The Beard out-assisted the Sharks singlehandedly in the first quarter, dishing out seven in nine minutes of action.

The second quarter didn’t get any better for the Shanghai Sharks, as it seemed for a stretch that all five Rockets on the floor had the hot hand. Houston would use a 15-rebound and 16-assist advantage to take a commanding 77-34 lead into the locker room at the half.

In the second half, the Rockets seemed to pick up their game even more in all aspects, as they pushed the lead all the way up to 72 at one point. Chris Clemons had an impressive showing in his 18 minutes off the bench, which will be discussed later in the bench grades.

While obviously the competition wasn’t nearly at the level the Rockets will be facing this season, it was still nice to see the team working together so well and being strong together as a unit. Mike D’Antoni will certainly be happy with how his squad looked on Monday in all aspects of the game.

In the two areas D’Antoni has stressed need the most improvement over the summer, rebounding and picking up the pace, Houston was superb. The Rockets finished with 67 rebounds compared to Shanghai’s 34 and 32 fast break points to Shanghai’s 10.

While the team as a whole played an excellent game, how did each player do individually?

Next: The Starters

Is it bad form to just give everyone on the team an A+ and call it a night? The Houston Rockets were up by 72 points at one point on Monday night, so naturally, just about everyone had a great or at least decent game for Clutch City. The starters set the tone early for how the night was going to play out.

The Starters

Next: The Bench

Again, everyone on the Rockets had something to contribute in the all-around effort on Monday night. Fans and the organization alike both had a chance to see just what the young guns could bring and there were definitely some impressive performances.

The Bench

Next: The Bench, continued

While they weren’t exactly facing an NBA-caliber team, the Houston Rockets showed just how many weapons they have on Monday.

As the regular season draws closer, excitement in Houston is sky-high and with good reason.

Josh Paredes

Josh Paredes is the NBA Content Director for FanSided. He has been overseeing all NBA sites in the network since achieving that position in August 2022. His specialty lies with his hometown San Antonio Spurs, but he has written extensively about the Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets in the past. His social media content has been featured on outlets like ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, and Sports Illustrated. He's been closely following the San Antonio Spurs since 1997. In his spare time, he enjoys laughing at bad movies with his wife over a bottle of red wine.