The Houston Rockets announced Wednesday that guard Eric Gordon will miss about six weeks after undergoing right knee arthroscopy.
Six weeks from Wednesday is Dec. 25, which is when the Rockets have a nationally televised game at Golden State as part of the NBA’s annual Christmas Day slate. If Gordon returns on the team’s projected timetable, that would mean he misses 20 games due to the procedure.
Gordon’s procedure was performed by Dr. Walter Lowe of Memorial Hermann. A world-renowned orthopedic surgeon, Lowe is medical director of the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute in Houston, and he serves as team physician for both the Rockets and the NFL’s Houston Texans. According to his biography, Lowe specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of knee, shoulder, and elbow injuries and disorders.
The knee problem may have contributed to Gordon’s much worse than expected start to the 2019-20 NBA season. Through nine games, the 6-foot-3 guard has shot 30.9% overall and 28.4% from three-point range. Both figures are well below the 41.4% and 36.4% percentages logged by the 30-year-old during his first three seasons in Houston.
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“It will clean up some things,” head coach Mike D’Antoni said of Gordon’s procedure, via Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “It’s been bothering him actually since the middle of last year. I think he’s actually relieved that he can clean it up, get it going, so he can come back as strong as ever.”
Overall, Gordon averaged 10.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 29.4 minutes per game during his injury-plagued start to the season.
Gordon’s absence will likely lead to additional minutes in the rotation for 6-foot-3 guard Ben McLemore, who has graded out very well in a limited sample of 15.5 minutes per game.
[lawrence-related id=17754,16928]
The @HoustonPress “Best Of Houston” is out, here’s my piece on the great Dr. Walter Lowe, Texans/Rockets team doctor https://t.co/cnpQHwRqLl
— Sean Pendergast (@SeanTPendergast) October 11, 2017
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