Depleted Rockets play with nine in opening-night ‘L’

The Rockets had just nine available players, James Harden among them in their opener on Saturday night because of ongoing quarantine issues related to the coronavirus pandemic. That also will be the case in their second game of the season.

Houston lost its opener on Saturday, falling 128126 in overtime to the Trail Blazers. Harden scored 44 points in the loss. They will visit Denver on Monday. CJ McCollum scored 44 points, including a 3-pointer with 6.3 seconds to lead Portland to victory. Damian Lillard chipped in with 32 points and nine assists for the Blazers.

As for the Rockets, they will be without John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Gordon and Mason Jones for the first two games. All are listed as out by the Rockets because of “health and safety protocols.”

Those four players, if they return negative tests, will see seven-day quarantines end Wednesday. That means they would be cleared to return when the Rockets play host to the Kings on Thursday.

Harden, the three-time defending NBA scoring champion, has been prominently mentioned in trade talks in recent weeks. The NBA said earlier in the week that Harden would serve a four-day quarantine, which ended Friday, for violating the league’s virus protocols. He was also fined $50,000 for attending an event that the league said broke the rule prohibiting players from “attending indoor social gatherings of 15 or more people or entering bars, lounges, clubs or similar establishments.”

That rule is part of the long list of protocols put into place for this season.