Rockets at Bulls Pre-Season Gamethread

Hey, look, it’s a gamethread. Like we had back in September.

A lot has changed since then, as you may or may not be aware. No, in Rocketsland. Things have changed in Rocketsland.

Russell Westbrook is gone, but not forgotten.

John Wall is here. I’m excited to watch him play. I think I spent a long time misjudging Wall, as it seems he spent a long time playing through some truly gnarly injuries. I feel a kinship with people with high pain thresholds. Also people who watch three basketball games at once earn my respect. More than the red ass who shows up two hours early to practice to show everyone what a red ass he is.

Stephen Silas is the new coach.

Rafael Stone is the GM.

James Harden is either petulantly being a jerk, or is, like many of the NBA’s biggest stars, not especially interested in this preseason. Given the playoff format, and the nature of things, that’s easy to understand. Maybe he had just a few more wild oats to monetarily compensate?

Who knows? I don’t, and my sense is, the media doesn’t either. But it’s a story that keeps on giving.

Tonight we might hear more about how James Harden isn’t around than how the Rockets are doing.

The game will be shown on local Rockets broadcasters (whoever that is now) and NBAtv.

The line? Are you serious? You bet on pre-season basketball? There are numerous gambling helplines you can call, for free. Just google.

James Harden, PJ Tucker, Sterling Brown, and Christian Wood will not play in this game. Harden, Tucker, Brown (and I think Wood) remain in Houston. Which means we won’t see any of them until the Tuesday game versus the Spurs at the earliest.