Porter out vs. Thunder with sore quad
After one game with most of the Rockets regulars, other than David Nwaba and Eric Gordon, together for the first time in six weeks, the Rockets will be shorthanded in the backcourt again on Sunday and Monday.
Guard Kevin Porter Jr. left Friday’s game with a sore right quad, did not practice on Saturday and was ruled out to play on Sunday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Besides Porter, their sixth man with Gordon out, with the Rockets heading into a back-toback against the Oklahoma City and Toronto Raptors on Sunday and Monday, they could be without one or both starting guards in the coming days.
Rockets coach Stephen Silas declined to say if John Wall or Victor Oladipo will play Monday, but Oladipo has given no indication he would start playing on consecutive nights. He sat out Wednesday when the Rockets were down to three guards including 10-day addition Mason Jones.
Nwaba has been out for the past three games after trying to play with his sprained right wrist but Silas said Nwaba has opted to have the surgery he had tried to avoid, a procedure that could keep him out for six weeks.
Wall returned from his knee injury on Friday, but he and Christian Wood will remain on a minutes restriction on Sunday. Wood said he does expect to play both games of the back-to-back.
Friday’s game was just the fourth that Wall, Oladipo and Wood all played. The Rockets on Friday kept them on the floor through all of Wood’s 27½ minutes.
This was in part because of the minutes restrictions making it difficult to stagger their playing time as Silas said he will when he has all three for their regular playing time. He did, however, want to get them used to one another as they could not have while playing just three games together this season before Friday.
“Those are our three main guys so making sure they were all on the floor together was a priority but the minute restriction part of it kind of complicates things,” Silas said.
Augustin happy to return home
When D.J. Augustin thought of the first games he attended in Toyota Center, his rookie season appearance, when he missed his three shots, did not come to mind first. He thought instead about watching another undersized point guard leading the Rockets to a breakthrough playoff win.
Even that, as different as the Rockets’ 2008-09 season was to the season he joined after the trade with the Milwaukee Bucks brought him back to his adopted hometown, made him optimistic about a future with the Rockets.
“I was a senior in high school when I came here after Katrina,” Augustin said. “I didn’t get a chance to go to a lot of games. Then I went off to college. My early years in the NBA, when I was with Charlotte, we didn’t make the playoffs, so I was home here early. This is when the Rockets were in the playoffs, playing Portland. Aaron Brooks was the point guard at the time. Great atmosphere, just a great energy. To be a part of this now, it means a lot to me.”
That also made him especially determined, he said, to help lead a Rockets’ turnaround after joining them on the day the losing streak would reach a franchise-record 19 games.
“Coming in being in this position with a team that lost a lot of games, losing seasons, I’ve been a part of that,” Augustin said. “I’ve also been a part of wining teams and teams that won a lot of games. Knowing what I’ve been through, trying to bring that leadership here, try to keep guys together through these rough times. Hopefully, we can turn things around before the season ends.”
At 33 years old, Augustin not only replaces P.J. Tucker on the Rockets’ roster, he becomes their oldest player. But though the Rockets have young players, most notably 20-year-old Kevin Porter Jr., to help lead, even their third-oldest player (after Augustin and Eric Gordon) said he hopes to learn from the 13-year NBA veteran.
“That’s one of those guys I always wanted to play with and also tried to get him as a backup a couple times in Washington,” guard John Wall, 30, said. “It’s funny how we ended up on the same team now.
“I always respected him, his play and how he carries himself on and off the court, as a professional since watching him in his college days at Texas. It’s really dope having a guy like that, that can push me every day and also someone I can learn from that’s been in the game longer than me.”