With losses in five of their first six games, the young Houston Rockets (1-5) continue a four-game road trip with Sunday night’s game at Phoenix (4-1).
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Houston, and the injury report isn’t helping, either. Since the Rockets also play Monday against the Clippers in Los Angeles as part of a back-to-back, veteran guard Eric Gordon is listed as out for injury maintenance on Sunday’s front end, as he does for half of most back-to-backs.
Rookie forward Jabari Smith Jr., who missed much of the preseason with a sprained left ankle, is listed as questionable with a sprained right ankle. Because he’s listed as questionable, this sprain doesn’t appear to be as significant as the one to his other ankle, which led to him missing nearly two weeks in early October.
Based on those issues, the Rockets almost certainly need a strong game from second-year guard Jalen Green if they want to compete with Chris Paul and Devin Booker’s Suns. Green is averaging just 14 points per game on 25.6% shooting (21.1% on 3-pointers) over his last two outings, and the Rockets badly need a resurgence.