Eric Gordon is practicing today and the plan is for him to play in New Orleans on Sunday, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. The Rockets have a back-to-back this weekend, taking on the Nets on Saturday before the Pelicans on Sunday and the shooting guard will return during the second contest.
Gordon has only played nine games for the Rockets this season before his knee injury forced him out of action. Coach Mike D’Antoni previously indicated that the shooting guard will come off the bench once he’s cleared to play.
The guard wasn’t particularly effective leading up to his stint away from the team. In his 265 minutes of action, he had a plus/minus of -4.2, a figure fueled by his horrible shooting numbers. He hit just 28.4% of his 8.2 three-point attempts per game earlier this season.
Harden, Westbrook, Capela, and PJ Tucker have all been playing 35-40 minutes in almost every game while Gordon has been out. Losses to the Warriors, Pistons, Kings, and Spurs over the past month have mostly been due to exhaustion. But now that Gordon is back, the Rockets’ starters won’t have to play so many minutes.
Or maybe the Warriors showed the formula by suffocating Harden and forcing Westbrick to beat you.
Now that Gordon is back, those talents can be replaced by an over-the-hill player. But yes, hopefully, a PT break to the good ones.
amk3510– I noticed a lack of shooting fouls drawn by Gordon vs GSW. Was that somehow the GSW tactic they spoke of?