On Monday night, Houston Rockets center Steven Adams sprained his right ankle shortly before halftime. initially Adams went to the locker room, but it was later ruled that he would not return for the rest
of the game. So far for the season, Adams is averaging 6 points and 8 rebounds, according to ESPN.com.
Even though the injury is not expected to be long-term, any minor absence for Adams might give veteran Clint Capela, who is currently on the bench, additional playing time. Capela has averaged 5.0 points (50.0% FG) and 7.5 rebounds in 15.5 minutes, while Sengun has missed the last two games with his calf strain.
Adams did not take part in the team’s practice exercises, despite some progress being observed on Tuesday. Head coach Ime Udoka stated that although an official injury report won’t be released until Wednesday night, he now believes Adams is “questionable” to play against the Nets (10–20).
The injury comes at an unfortunate time, as Alperen Sengun is also currently nursing an injury and missed the last two games and remains questionable for the game versus the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday. Additonally according to NBA.com injury report, Clint Capela is also questionable with an illness, meaning Houston may need to go small without a true center, although they could always start veteran Jeff Green.
As of Thursday, the Rockets (20-10) are at the top of the Western Conference rankings (4th place) behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, and Denver Nuggets, and have won three straight games.You can tune into the game live via NBA League Pass as an out-of-state fan, and regionally on Space City Home Network (SCHN) with a tipoff time of 5:00 p.m. Central on New Year’s Day. As always be sure to check back here for pre- and postgame coverage.
