D’Antoni plays it safe with Gordon

The Rockets played without guard Eric Gordon (sore back) for a second consecutive game Saturday night, but coach Mike D’Antoni said the team’s second-leading scorer (17.3 points per game) should be back for Wednesday’s home game against the Miami Heat, the last contest before the All-Star break.

Gordon also missed two games last month because of tightness in his back, but D’Antoni said Gordon’s back issues aren’t a cause for concern.

“We’ve got three days between games, and he was almost ready (Saturday),” D’Antoni said. “But it’s prudent to hold him until Wednesday.”

Suns’ late arrival scrambles roster

The Suns played without guard Eric Bledsoe (rest), who entered Saturday night’s game tied with Devin Booker for the team lead in scoring (21.2 points per game).

“We checked into the hotel at 4 in the morning (on Saturday),” Suns coach Earl Watson said of his team’s arrival after a 115-97 home win over Chicago on Friday night. “We want to make sure we’re really smart about keeping him healthy mov- ing forward.”

In addition, Suns center Tyson Chandler (ankle) missed Saturday’s game, but Watson said his injury isn’t serious.

“Could he have played if it was a playoff game? Probably,” Watson said.

Harden OK with a little normalcy

The scene outside Toyota Center was lively Saturday but nothing like last weekend, when the Patriots defeated the Falcons in Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium, to cap a week of revelry.

The relative calm with all the visitors gone suits Rockets guard James Harden just fine.

“It’s back to normal,” Harden said. “There were a lot of activities going on out there, a lot of events. It’s a great city, and I hope everybody had a really good time while they were visiting. But now it’s back to being great … back to regularly scheduled programming.”

Harden said his main hindrance during Super Bowl week was leaving home 20 minutes earlier than usual to get to Toyota Center; it meant 20 minutes less of sleep a day thanks to the NFL’s big game.