Danuel House Jr. is returning to the Houston Rockets lineup as the starter at small forward for Sunday’s home game versus Dallas.
Head coach Mike D’Antoni confirmed the news to reporters in his pregame media session early Sunday afternoon at Toyota Center.
House sat out Friday’s loss in Los Angeles against the Clippers with a sore left shoulder, which the 26-year-old injured Wednesday in Denver when he ran into a screen set by 284-pound big man Nikola Jokic.
In 12 games this year, the 6-foot-6 forward is averaging 11.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in 28.9 minutes per game, and he’s been one of the team’s top three-point shooters at 44.6%. His defensive rating of 104.0 is among the best of any player in the current rotation, and he often spends time covering one of each opponent’s top perimeter scorers.
Per MDA, Danuel House (sore shoulder) will return to the Rockets starting lineup this afternoon vs Dallas
— Craig Ackerman (@ca_rockets) November 24, 2019
Though House’s start to the 2019-20 season has been very positive, durability has been a slight concern. Two weeks ago, the native Houstonian missed three games with a bruised back. Then, the shoulder issue occurred in just his second game back after the prior injury.
Danuel House injures his shoulder on a brick wall screen by Jokic pic.twitter.com/sdZBqdlL1x
— The Render (@TheRenderNBA) November 21, 2019
The hope for the Rockets is that the shoulder-related absence also gave House a few extra days to rest his back, potentially allowing him to put both minor injuries behind him as the team moves forward.
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