Southwest Notes: Collins, Thompson Twins, Rockets, Pelicans

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said center Zach Collins could be sidelined “two to four weeks” with a right ankle sprain he suffered Friday at Portland, tweets Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. The team had Collins stay home for Sunday’s game rather than put more pressure on his ankle by attending to sit on the bench.

Collins began the season as San Antonio’s starting center before recently moving into a reserve role. He’s in his third year with the Spurs and has been able to revive his career after missing the entire 2020/21 season due to a fractured fibula.

Popovich also provided a medical update on Charles Bassey, saying he’s doing well after undergoing surgery to repair his torn ACL (Twitter link). Bassey suffered the injury last month in a game with the Spurs’ G League affiliate.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

• Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson will have their first NBA meeting tonight when the Rockets host the Pistons, and Kelly Iko and James L. Edwards of The Athletic talked to the twins about the role that older brother Troy had in shaping their careers. “Without him, I don’t know if I’d like basketball as much as I did growing up,” Ausar said. “Troy always believed in us … ever since I was little, he always thought we were the greatest basketball players at our age that he had ever seen. He just didn’t think we could beat him. Having someone, and even my whole family, who believes in you like that, it makes you believe and keep going.”
• With Detroit finally getting a win Saturday after dropping 28 straight games, it’s the Rockets who will come into tonight’s contest on a losing streak, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Houston has lost three in a row, all at home, and the defensive identity the team built early in the season is slipping. Feigen notes that the Rockets have the league’s worst defensive rating over their past three games and have allowed their last three opponents to shoot a combined 41.3% from three-point range. The defense might get a boost with the return of Jabari Smith, who missed Friday’s game with a sprained ankle but was upgraded to questionable on Sunday.
• Zion Williamson believes the Pelicans‘ embarrassing 44-point loss to the Lakers in the semifinals of the in-season tournament might have been “one of those blessings in disguise,” per Christian Clark of NOLA. New Orleans has gone 7-3 since that game, including a 20-point win Sunday night in a rematch with L.A. “We went to Vegas hoping for a different outcome,” Williamson said. “I think it definitely brought us together more as a team. It definitely brought us closer as a staff. Everyone communicating. I feel like we have been playing great. We still have some things to figure out. But so does every other team.”