Star center Christian Wood was a full participant at Wednesday’s practice for the Houston Rockets and is likely within a week of returning to NBA games, according to head coach Stephen Silas.
“Maybe a week, maybe a little bit less,” Silas said of Wood’s return timetable. “He did not have many limitations today.” According to the team, the remaining hurdles for Wood are in regards to regaining his conditioning, rather than anything related to the ankle injury itself.
“He made it through everything today,” Silas said. “His conditioning could be better, for sure. That’s the next hurdle to approach. Obviously, we don’t want him to be out there and not be in shape enough to make it through the rigors of the game. But he’s moving in the right direction.”
Stephen Silas says Christian Wood practiced today. Could be back in a week or less. pic.twitter.com/MnajdpyuNe
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) March 11, 2021
The Rockets (11-23) are 0-13 since Wood sprained his right ankle on Feb. 4, which makes for quite a contrast relative to their 7-1 run in the eight previous games. They enter the second half of the 2020-21 season on a 13-game skid, which is their longest as a franchise in over 20 years.
Now 25 years old, Wood is averaging 22.0 points and 10.2 rebounds in 31.2 minutes per game in the 2020-21 season. In a breakout year that earned the 6-foot-10 big man consideration for both the All-Star Game and Olympics, he’s shooting 55.8% overall and 42.1% on 3-pointers.
“I feel great,” Wood said following Wednesday’s practice in Sacramento. “Just a few more days, and I’ll be back.”
“I’m close,” Wood said later in the interview. “I’m right there. Hopefully I’m back after this back-to-back.” That would potentially point to a return by Sunday’s home game versus Boston, with the road back-to-back in Sacramento (Thursday) and Utah (Friday) seemingly ruled out.
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Christian Wood said at the end of his interview with the media on Zoom “I’m close. I’m right there. Hopefully I’m back after this back-to-back.” https://t.co/CnfMEi2Dcx
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) March 11, 2021
Wood said practice today was competitive. He said he, in particular, riled some guys up. He said he was "talking a bunch of trash," and it was nothing he can share (he said with a smile).
— Cayleigh Griffin (@cayleighgriffin) March 11, 2021
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