As the NBA’s 2020-21 regular season winds down, the rebuilding Houston Rockets are hopeful of seeing some of their key young building blocks at least one more time before breaking for the offseason.
While veterans Eric Gordon and Sterling Brown are out for the season, head coach Stephen Silas has left the door open for Christian Wood, Kevin Porter Jr., and Danuel House Jr. to return. All three have missed numerous games in recent weeks after suffering ankle sprains. However, all three are listed as out for Friday’s home finale versus the Los Angeles Clippers, leaving Sunday’s game at Atlanta as the last chance.
With the league’s worst record, the Rockets will be big underdogs in both games, considering that the Clippers and Hawks are headed to the playoffs. Nonetheless, the Rockets nearly knocked off the defending champion Lakers on Wednesday, and they would love a feel-good victory before their season ends — particularly if it’s led by players within their “young core” of KJ Martin, Jae’Sean Tate, Wood, and Porter.
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Here’s when you should tune in to watch Friday’s game. Projected lineups are based on each team’s decisions from the preceding game:
- Date: Friday, May 14
- Time: 8:00 p.m. Central
- TV Channel: AT&T SportsNet Southwest
- Live stream: fuboTV (watch for free in Houston markets)
Probable starting lineups
Houston Rockets (16-54)
- Guard: DJ Augustin
- Guard: Khyri Thomas
- Forward: Jae’Sean Tate
- Forward: KJ Martin
- Center: Kelly Olynyk
Los Angeles Clippers (48-23)
- Guard: Pat Beverley
- Guard: Paul George
- Forward: Kawhi Leonard
- Forward: Marcus Morris Sr.
- Center: Ivica Zubac
Houston’s injury report for Friday lists 10 of the team’s 16 players under standard contracts as out: Christian Wood (right ankle), John Wall (right hamstring), Eric Gordon (right groin), Sterling Brown (head/face lacerations), Kevin Porter Jr. (left ankle), Avery Bradley (personal reasons), Dante Exum (left calf), Danuel House Jr. (right ankle), David Nwaba (right wrist) and D.J. Wilson (health and safety protocols).
The Rockets have two additional players (Cameron Oliver and Khyri Thomas) on hardship exception deals, which assures them of meeting the NBA’s minimum requirement of eight active players. It’s a fitting way for Houston’s injury plagued 2020-21 season to wind down.
Rockets injury report includes Danuel House Jr, out, right ankle soreness, Kevin Porter Jr, out, left ankle sprain, Christian Wood, out, right ankle soreness
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) May 13, 2021
The Clippers will not issue an injury update until midday Friday, since they played on Thursday in Charlotte. In that game, they were relatively healthy, listing only Serge Ibaka (out, lower back tightness) and Amir Coffey (out, health and safety protocols) on their report.
It’s possible that Los Angeles head coach Tyronn Lue could opt to rest some of his regulars at Toyota Center, since it’s the second night of a road back-to-back and the playoffs are only about a week away. However, the Clippers are in a tight battle in the Western Conference standings with No. 2 Phoenix (48-21) and No. 4 Denver (46-24), so it’s also plausible that they could aggressively pursue the highest postseason seed.
Note: This post first appeared on Rockets Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
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