Veteran guard Avery Bradley made his debut appearance for the Houston Rockets in Monday’s home game versus Memphis. The 30-year-old had been sidelined by a calf strain since early February.
Known best for his defense, Bradley is averaging 8.5 points (42.1% on 3-pointers) in 21.1 minutes per game this season. The 6-foot-3 guard was acquired from Miami in the trade that sent out Victor Oladipo.
“I envision Avery kind of being a multi-purpose guy,” head coach Stephen Silas said of Bradley’s potential role with the Rockets. “He’s one of the best one-on-one defenders in the NBA over the last 10 years. He’ll have that role. He’ll shoot his spot-ups, and he’ll use his veteran savvy.”
While Bradley came off the bench, fellow newcomer Kelly Olynyk started for a second straight game in place of usual center Christian Wood (illness). Silas said before Monday’s game that Wood wasn’t ruled out until later in the day, and he should be available soon. “Moving forward, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue,” Silas said pregame.
Starting forward Danuel House Jr. also returned to Houston’s lineup after missing the last two games for personal reasons. With those changes, the Rockets started John Wall, Kevin Porter Jr., Jae’Sean Tate, House, and Olynyk in Monday’s game versus the Grizzlies.
Since ending a historic 20-game losing streak a week ago, the Rockets (13-32) entered Monday with two wins in their last four games.
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