Injuries Stacking Up for Houston Rockets

On Sunday, just hours ahead of a surprising Super Bowl, the Houston Rockets were finally able to stop their six-game skid.

Against the Toronto Raptors, scorers in Jalen Green and Cam Whitmore were able to propel the team to a fourth-quarter onslaught, eventually winning, 94-87, to stop their Western Conference slide. The matchup wasn’t pretty — with the team scoring just 37 points in the first half — but it took its victory any way it could.

But the win came at a cost. All-Star center Alperen Sengun exited the game early, and didn’t return in the less-than-pretty win. Following the game, head coach Ime Udoka expressed that it’s likely just spasms, and he should be good to go after a few days rest, but the injury is still less than ideal for a player who’s already dealt with other minor things this season.

In addition to Sengun’s Sunday woes, the team was without point guard Fred VanVleet — who’s looking vital to the team’s success after a lengthy losing-streak — as well as forwards Jabari Smith Jr and Tari Eason.

VanVleet is the best true point guard on the team, and one of the only players able to truly settle the offense at this point in time, in addition to his stingy guard defense. Smith is similarly impactful on the defensive end of the court, able to spread across multiple positions, while adding much-needed perimeter shooting and size to Houston.

Eason has been the most in-and-out player on the team in terms of injuries, dealing with a lingering lower leg injury after missing out on all but 22 games last year.

All in all, teams have had it worse on the injury report than Houston. But there’s no denying that injuries certainly played a role in losing six-straight, and will continue to do so if the team cannot get healthy.

The All-Star break should do the team good in terms of rest, but Houston will have two more Western Conference matchups prior to that it will certainly want to win.

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