Ahead of the game against the Spurs, the Rockets coaching staff decided to put three of the most important veteran players in the current rotation (Eric Gordon, Dennis Schroeder and Christian Wood), and the Rockets reportedly aimed to evaluate how young players like Dyson Knicks and Usman Garruba could perform on the court.
According to the authorities, Eric Gordon also suffered from sore right groin, Schroeder also suffered from injuries such as left shoulder pain and Wood and tight left hamstring:
In fact, this is also a strategy for the Rockets to reduce their record, after all, after the victory over the Blazers, the Current 20-55 Rockets are already tied for the bottom of the league with teams like the Magic and Pistons, which is why the Rockets need to ensure that the team loses the game against the Spurs and ends the season with the worst record in the league.
Simply put, the Rockets have good veteran players in the rotation to reduce the team's chances of winning, which will help the team's probability of obtaining a high pick in this year's draft. In fact, rocket "competing teams" such as the Thunder and Kings have made the same decision in recent times, leaving players such as Alexander, Fox and Sabonis Jr. to a truce.
Shortly after the Rockets' decision was announced, Houston Chronicle reporter Jonathan Fagan tweeted that he expected the Rockets' strategy to continue until the end of the season:
Only in this game against the Spurs, the Rockets' "swing plan" may affect the Lakers' chances of impacting the playoffs this season.
Prior to this game, the Lakers' 31-43 record was only one win difference ahead of the Spurs, who lost 30 wins and 44 losses, and if the Spurs beat the Rockets (the chances are great) and the Lakers lose tomorrow's game against the Lone Rangers (LeBron James and Anthony Davis may not be able to play), then the Spurs with the tiebreaker advantage will also surpass the Lakers and even play in the Playoffs in the 10th place in the West.
That said, the Rockets' decision to "give up" this game is likely to affect the pattern of the Western Conference playoffs and the future of this Lakers.