The theme of 2020-21 for the Rockets has been widespread injuries. Thus, as the regular season enters its final month, it’s only fitting that Houston remains ravaged by player injuries within its desired rotation.
While Christian Wood and John Wall are back in the lineup, the Rockets still had six players listed as out on Friday’s injury report. Sterling Brown (left knee), DJ Augustin (left ankle), Danuel House Jr. (right ankle), Eric Gordon (right groin), David Nwaba (right wrist), and Dante Exum (right calf) are all currently out, with no clear timetable for a return. At various points this season, each has played significant NBA minutes.
Nwaba and Exum are likely done for the season, while Brown is the closest to returning. As for the others, here’s what head coach Stephen Silas said prior to Friday’s game versus Denver:
It’s hard to say. DJ, Eric, and House are moving slower than Sterling. It’s probably going to be another week for those guys, to re-evaluate. But for Sterling, it’s more of a day-to-day type thing. That’s about it.
With Eric’s injury, you really have to be careful, because of the nature of how it happened. It was a non-contact injury. House doesn’t seem to be improving. He just seems to be, kind of, walking around, and not really able to push off on that foot. And then DJ, I wouldn’t say it’s a severe injury, but it was a serious injury with his foot. So, Sterling is the closest one to coming back, but we need all four guys. We really do. Our depth has taken a big-time hit. It’s been hit, obviously, all season, but we need those guys back.
To Silas’ point, Houston fared well in Wednesday’s loss to Indiana when starters were on the floor, but their bench units were crushed.
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In the big picture, the Rockets (14-41) aren’t desperate for wins, since they have no realistic path to the 2021 playoffs. From an organizational standpoint, there’s also a clear incentive to maximize odds for the upcoming draft lottery. Yet, with all three of Gordon, House, and Augustin under contract for at least one more season, there are benefits to getting a larger sample and being able to evaluate them more before 2021-22.
Thus, while the Rockets certainly won’t push the envelope with an injured player, they’re also not likely to shut them down if they’re deemed healthy and available to play. However, with the final game scheduled for May 16 — exactly one month from Friday — time is starting to dwindle.
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