Veteran center Steven Adams will miss at least one more game for the Houston Rockets due to a right soleus (calf) strain, the team announced in Sunday’s injury report.
Ime Udoka, head coach of the Rockets, will update Adams’ potential recovery timeline in Monday night’s pregame press conference before Houston hosts the Atlanta Hawks.
Adams missed Houston’s regular-season opener last Wednesday with what the team called right calf soreness/tightness, and Udoka said the issue was discovered after Tuesday’s practice.
Adams then played Friday in San Antonio before sitting out Saturday in Atlanta. At the time, the Rockets listed Adams as out for maintenance purposes and not for anything related to the new injury.
Adams missed the second half of the 2025-26
season due to left ankle surgery, and it’s worth noting that the current issue is not to his surgically repaired leg.
Steven Adams (calf soreness after practice) is a game-time decision vs Dallas, Ime Udoka said: "Test it out, see how he feels." Udoka said the two-big lineup with Adams will "probably" be matchup-based, and wants to go small with Jabari Smith Jr. and Kevin Durant as bigs.
— NBA Wire (@nbapresserwire) October 21, 2026
Now 33 years old, Adams remains one of the NBA’s best centers on a per-minute basis when it comes to offensive rebounding and screen setting, though he’s become less durable in recent seasons.
In recent years, the average time lost for calf strains in the NBA was 16 days (Jeff Stotts, InStreetClothes), though there is significant variance depending on the grade. Presumably, Udoka will offer more details on Monday.
For however long Adams is sidelined, veteran center Clint Capela and two-way forward/center Oscar Tshiebwe could both get rotation opportunities behind incumbent starter Alperen Sengun. Another option is sliding power forward Jabari Smith Jr. to center in smaller, more agile lineups.
Monday’s tipoff between the Rockets (3-0) and Hawks (2-1) is at 7:30 p.m. Central from Toyota Center, and the game will be televised and streamed regionally on Space City Home Network (SCHN) and nationally and internationally via NBA League Pass.
Worth noting that Copeland and Phillips are being sent to the G League but Oscar Tshiebwe is staying in Houston.
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) October 25, 2026
I would presume that's related to the Adams situation https://t.co/HyM7qbbo50
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Steven Adams to miss time for Rockets with right calf strain
