Rockets veterans Christian Wood (left hamstring tightness), Eric Gordon (right groin soreness), and Dennis Schröder (left shoulder soreness) were held out of Monday’s game vs. San Antonio and seem unlikely to play any more this season, says Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.
As Feigen outlines, none of those injuries are invented, but it’s probably safe to assume Wood, Gordon, and Schröder wouldn’t all be sidelined by “tightness” and “soreness” if the Rockets were in the midst of a playoff race. Instead, the team is invested in securing a top spot in the draft lottery — currently, Houston is in a three-way tie for the NBA’s worst record (20-56).
With Wood, Gordon, and Schröder out, prospects like Daishen Nix and Usman Garuba will likely see more action down the stretch for the Rockets, joining fellow rookies Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and Josh Christopher in the regular rotation, Feigen writes. Nix and Garuba each played 14 minutes in Monday’s loss to the Spurs.
Here’s more from around the Southwest:
- In addition to having the NBA’s second-best record this season, the Grizzlies are the “sleeping giant” of the 2022 offseason, according to Danny Leroux of The Athletic. As Leroux lays out, Memphis has some cap flexibility and a handful of draft picks available this summer and should be motivated to add talent before Ja Morant transitions from his rookie contract to a more expensive second contract in 2023.
- The Mavericks strongly considered signing free agent guard Quinn Cook to a 10-day hardship contract earlier in the season, but ultimately chose Isaiah Thomas in part due to proximity, writes Marc Stein at his Substack. Cook, who is currently playing for the Stockton Kings in the G League, said in a tweet over the weekend that he was at “rock bottom” earlier this year and would be thrilled to get an NBA call-up before the season is over.
- The Mavericks hired Jason Kidd as their head coach in part because of the impact the Hall-of-Fame point guard could have on Luka Doncic, and so far it seems that bet is paying off, per Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. “He’s been great for us,” Doncic said of Kidd. “He communicates with the players. He’s just been great, helping not just me but everybody, just to see a better picture.”
But let’s get mad at the thunder for their “faux” injuries….lol
(And they still won on Monday anyway….so much for tanking)
I low-key feel like Roby was on the bench most of the season precisely bc he would’ve carried them to more Ws like he did the other day. If it’s any consolation he won’t be able to do that tonight
Thunder are almost locked into the 4th worse record at this point. Doesn’t really matter.
They weren’t locked into anything earlier in the season when JRE, Bazley & Poku were all getting way more pt than Roby. Im saying OKC had been playing them over him in a season long attempt to tank
Yea Memphis is in position to become the dominant team out West for yrs to come. They have a very deep roster full of guys in their prime or just about enter their prime plus a lot of roster versatility plus a lot of cap space plus the extra 1st rd picks, plus obv 1 of the best young pgs in the game. I feel like they should keep their core together, guys like Ja, Dillon, Jaren, Bane, Melton, Clarke. The spot I’d upgrade would be at the 5. I’d take a swing at Christian Wood & I’d even go hard at Ayton. If they stand oat & don’t make any major moves they’d be wise to look close to home at guys like Jalen Duren & Kennedy Chandler with their pair of 1st rd picks
Good plan. Ayton or Wood would be an excellent improvement over Adams.
It seems weird that Quinn Cook isn’t an assistant coach at Duke rn
Starters from Three teams are supposed to be “injured “now
Rockets
Pistons
Magic
Well anyone with even half a cell in their brain knew that J-Kidd was gonna be great in DAL or anywhere else, he is a great coach, a top 2-3 in the league… but so many wise guys hate on him for unknown reasons, never letting the facts get in the way of their narratives!