It's last year all over again where there is a clear-cut #1 seed and everyone wants to avoid that side of the bracket. The Rockets aren't a top-3 team, and they have fallen 4+ games behind the #3 seed, so why go for it when you can rest up and put yourself in a position to grab the #6 or #7 seed while strategically resting your stars?
@ Utah is probably the #2 or #3 most difficult game on everyone's schedule this year. Not at all surprised that the Rockets (or really anyone other than maybe the Nuggets or Clippers) would bring their A-team to play at Utah on the back 2nd game of a back to back.