The Houston Rockets’ third-ranked offensive attack hinges heavily on their ability to outmuscle opponents on the offensive glass. Houston’s 16.1 offensive rebounds pace the league.
And their 18.8 second-chance points also leads the league.
Unsurprisingly, the Rockets have four players that rank in the top-25 in offensive rebounds, in Steven Adams, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Clint Capela.
That approach figures to look different for awhile.
Reserve center (and quasi-starter) Steven Adams will be
out indefinitely, as he suffered an ankle injury in Houston’s 119-110 revenge victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Adams went down in the fourth quarter and had to be helped off the court by his teammates, which was a sign of the severity of the injury and degree of pain that Adams was in.
Adams has been diagnosed with a Grade 3 ankle sprain, which will force him to miss an extended amount of time.
According to Rockets coach Ime Udoka, Adams won’t be back anytime soon.
On the season, Adams is averaging 5.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.5 offensive rebounds and 50.4 percent from the field.
His 4.5 offensive boards leads the league.
That number illustrates exactly how dominant of a rebounder he’s been, as that’s not even his career-best.
It would rank as his fifth-best.
The Rockets are the team that’s best equipped to sustain an injury like this. It’s why they signed Capela in the summer.
To be able to execute their strategy of dominating on the glass, either with or without Adams in the lineup.
Although there is a clear drop off from Adams to Capela.
It helps that the All-Star break is coming up, as it gives Adams an additional week to rest, without missing any of the Rockets’ games.
Houston has 12 games until the All-Star break.
All told, Adams has missed nine games this season, and the Rockets have posted a 5-4 record in his absence.
