Houston Rockets Pregame: Ime Udoka Talks Injuries, Double Big Lineup

The Houston Rockets come into Sunday's afternoon matchup with the Toronto Raptors in the midst of a season-long losing streak. After another tough loss Saturday, the Rockets have now lost six games in a row

The Rockets are happy to be back at the Toyota Center after playing seven of their last eight games on the road. They have only played three home games in the previous three weeks. The Rockets started to show signs of fatigue toward the end of their latest four-game road trip and will now begin to see the schedule become home-dominant.

The Rockets have also been dealing with a lot of injuries and with Sunday's game being a back to back the Rockets will be without Tari Eason and Steven Adams. Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith have been out for several weeks.

Ime Udoka said that they are still managing Eason and Adams on back to backs and talks how difficult it has been this season.

Udoka also talked about the Rockets going to the double big lineup with Sengun and Adams in the lineup simultaneously. The Rockets have not used that lineup for most of the season and saw success against the Mavericks.

Udoka was asked if that is a lineup we could see more often.

“It’s tough based on matchups obviously they played with two bigs so we were very comfortable doing that.”

During today’s pregame Ime Udoka talked about the double big lineup and if we could see it going forward.

“It’s tough based on matchups obviously they played with two bigs so we were very comfortable doing that.” pic.twitter.com/C8TKlQvAcm
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) February 9, 2025

Udoka also talked about how Adams has handled playing more minutes this season and if he will eventually be able to play back to backs more often.

“When we keep him in the 12-15 minutes range its pretty easy to play him in on the back to backs but when we increase those to 20 plus he is going to be little bit

Udoka was asked how Steven Adams has handled in crease minutes and if at some point he can play more back to backs.

“When we keep him in the 12-15 minutes range its pretty easy to play him in on the back to backs but when we increase those to 20 plus he is going to be little bit… pic.twitter.com/Y35YxPHR3T
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) February 9, 2025

Udoka also gave an injury update on Smith and VanVleet. Udoka was asked about the possibility they could be back before the All-Star break. Udoka stated that Smith is getting up shots and testing out the hand but will not be back before the break.

Also, VanVleet has not started on-court work and will not be back before the All-Star break. Once the Rockets return from their break, both players will be evaluated. The Rockets' schedule does not get any easier after Sunday's game with the Raptors, so a win today takes on even more importance.

The Western Conference will continue to be competitive all season, so the Rockets players and coaching staff realize how important it is to end the losing streak soon as possible.

Want to join the discussion? Like Rockets on SI Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Rockets news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.