Wood closer to returning
Center Christian
Wood, a longshot to return from his ankle injury on Tuesday, was held out for a 17th consecutive game, but the Rockets were hopeful that he and Danuel
House Jr. would return on Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors.
“They’re getting to the point it’s a possibility, thank goodness,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said.
As always with the Rockets, however, the injury news was not all positive. Forward David
Nwaba, who had played through a wrist injury in the past two games because the Rockets were so shorthanded, will be out indefinitely as he consults specialists about the wrist surgery that had been recommended.
“Nwaba is probably going to be out for quite a bit,” Silas said. “He re-aggravated it two games ago, came to my office and was like, ‘it’s not looking good.’ I guess he is going to see the doctor and have another opinion. It’s kind of looking like it was before the All-Star break to where surgery might be the next best option for him.”
With Ben McLemore a game-time decision who was ruled out, the Rockets had eight available players Tuesday, including two on twoway contracts with their G League affiliate and another on a 10-day contract. Only two players available on Tuesday, Sterling Brown and Victor Oladipo, had ever finished an NBA season.
Guard John Wall, who was hurt in the first practice after the All-Star break, missed a fourth consecutive game with a bruised left knee and will be out Wednesday. The Rockets hope he will be back Friday against Detroit.
Wood’s improvement, however, was considered especially encouraging, if complicated.
“It’s positive,” Silas said. “We’re moving in the right direction. He still feels some pain. That’s kind of where we have to figure out how much pain is too much pain; how much pain is normal pain. Then the in-shape part, how close is he to game shape to play minutes in an NBA game without having to over-tax himself ?
“Hopefully, we’ll have a game-time decision tomorrow. John is still kind of dealing with the knee and hopefully he will be back Friday. Hopefully. He’s still recovering. It’s like a dayto-day thing. It doesn’t look like it is going to be a long-term deal but he’s dealing with it.”
McMillan was a target of Silas
Before Nate McMillan became a Hawks assistant, a decision that led to him becoming the interim head coach when Lloyd Pierce was let go on March 1, he considered an assistant position with the Rockets when Stephen Silas was putting together his staff, with Silas offering his highest praise.
“I spoke to him prior to him going to Atlanta,” Silas said. “He’s always been someone that I respected for a long time. He reminds me of my dad in a way, a tough guy, former player, no nonsense. But just a really good basketball coach.”
McMillan said he could see the similarity as a proudly “old school” coach, much like Paul
Silas through his coaching career.
“I did have a conversation with him before,” McMillan said. “I had already really talked with coach Pierce about coming. I told him that. I was really honored that he was reaching out to ask me to come and support him.
“I have a great deal of respect for his father, the way he coached and the way he played and the man he is, really the example he set as a coach. The comparison is somewhat old school. You just respect that.”
The Hawks have won all six games since the coaching change, while the Rockets had the minimum number of players permitted to play the game.
“I’m glad he’s getting his shot,” McMillan said of Silas. “It’s hard to do anything in this league when you don’t have the players and have all the injuries.”
Oladipo expected to return to form
Though Hawks interim coach Nate McMillan said he had not seen
Victor Oladipo enough this season to assess how far along he is in his comeback from a quad injury suffered when both were with the Pacers, he saw enough last season to expect Oladipo to get there.
“I was with him last season,” McMillan said. “I know what he has done to commit to getting his body back to as close to what he was before the injury. He has invested in making sure he has everything he needs as far as trainers and doctors and putting in the work to get to that point.”
Oladipo was an AllNBA third-team player in 2017-18 and the Most Improved Player award winner while playing for McMillan in Indianapolis.