If Gordon is healthy, year full of promise
Eric Gordon once again can happily look forward to shooting All-Star Weekend 3-pointers in New Orleans. He can make plans to practice grabbing balls off a rack and firing away. He can joke that he’ll accept some advice from James Harden, but within limits because he wants to win it.
Mostly, Gordon returned to the Rockets’ practice Tuesday, brushing off concerns his sore back could be a recurring problem, with confidence that the issue was “just a little, minor thing.”
As much as the Rockets have righted themselves, winning their past four games heading into the final game before the All-Star break, little could be considered a more important development than categorizing Gordon’s back issue as minor.
The Rockets have won without him, going 4-2 in the games Gor-
don has missed. But with a victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night at Toyota Center, the Rockets would not only match last season’s total of 41 but also the 1993-94 Rockets for the best record in franchise history through 58 games.
That’s enough to revise goals to be a legitimate contender, an aspiration that requires all hands on deck, with their second-leading scorer near the top of the list.
“It’s fine,” Gordon said of his back. “I’ve dealt with this before. It’s something not really to worry about at all. So far, everything’s going in the right direction to trying to play. We’ll try out everything and see how it feels on the court.”
The greater concern than having Gordon back to face the Heat is that he remains on the floor when the season resumes Feb. 23 in New Orleans.
Gordon missed two games when the back tightened in warmups in Boston on Jan. 25, with the Rockets believing he had been favoring a sprained ankle and toe, leading to the back issues. When his back became sore again, forcing him to miss two games last week, the problem seemed more serious and potentially ongoing.
However, Gordon said the issue was not nearly as severe as in the first two games he missed, and Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni described holding Gordon out as precautionary.
“I don’t think it’ll be ongoing,” said Gordon, who has averaged 17.3 points this season. “Just a little, minor thing I had to deal with the past couple days. I’m just glad it’s heading in the right direction. Hopefully, I’ll get past it and move on.”
Depth a concern
After Wednesday, he will move on to New Orleans — where he spent five seasons — and the pursuit of the first 3-point competition win for a Rocket.
For now, the Rockets would like to see a few 3s fall against the Heat. Their previous game against the Heat showed how important he can be, with Gordon going 3-of-17 in the loss. (Ryan Anderson missed that game with the flu, and after a scare on Sunday when he gashed his right thumb, he was cleared to play Wednesday.)
Even with the Rockets’ relative success without Gordon, his absences pointed to a lack of depth at the position, with D’Antoni extending the playing time of players already in the rotation rather than calling on another player off the bench.
“Obviously, you’re much better when you’re at full strength,” Rockets assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik said Tuesday with D’Antoni out sick. “Our guys have done a great job making sure we didn’t miss a beat when Eric was gone for the most part. Everyone’s getting paid. Everyone needs to do a job when called upon.
“He’s so explosive. Obviously, those four 3s a game, that’s 12 points. It’s a big impact when he’s not there for us. And he defends well.”
With Gordon back, the Rockets expected to be at full strength going into the break, giving them a chance to build momentum they lacked when injuries began in the final game of their 10-game winning streak in December and again when they had a nine-game streak a month later.
‘In a great position’
The Rockets have had three days off since their last game, Saturday’s 133-102 rout of Phoenix, and they don’t play a back-to-back until March 17 and 18. With Gordon seemingly over his back issues, the Rockets hoped to make their current run of four consecutive wins the start of a late-season push.
“It’s going to be great,” Gordon said. “We have this one game before break. After the break, we have a lot of home games to figure out what we need to do for the playoffs. It’s a great time. We feel we put ourselves in a great position early on in the season, being the third seed. We’re trying to be higher. All we have to do is maintain health, and focus on the things we need to do.”