Starting point guard Kevin Porter Jr. did not play for the Rockets in Wednesday’s game at Oklahoma City after re-aggravating a left thigh contusion and leaving early during Houston’s previous game. Veteran Eric Gordon started in his place, and backcourt mate Jalen Green took on more ball-handling and playmaking responsibilities.
Porter first suffered the injury on Nov. 7 at Golden State. Head coach Stephen Silas expressed surprise that Porter was able to recover in time for Houston’s next game on Nov. 10, but the injury was jarred during a collision in Monday’s game at Memphis. Understandably, since the injury has lingered and was re-aggravated, the Rockets could opt to be more conservative in their treatment protocol for this second go-round.
On their injury report, the Rockets listed Porter as “questionable” going into Wednesday’s game, which suggests that they don’t view it as a particularly long-term concern for the third-year guard. Houston has two days off before returning to play on Saturday in New York, which might potentially allow Porter to return without any further absences.
Now 21 years old, Porter is averaging 12.7 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.1 rebounds in 30.8 minutes per game this season. Prior to Wednesday, he had yet to miss a single game, and Houston’s desire to give Porter more repetitions at point guard was a key aspect of the organization’s decision not to play veteran John Wall in games this season. Silas has also praised Porter in recent days for his improvement on defense.
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