Green to miss at least a week
Rockets guard Jalen Green will be out for at least a week with a strained left hamstring, Rockets coach Stephen Silas said Friday.
Green left Wednesday’s game against the Bulls after he was fouled on a drive. He stayed in to take his free throws and played the next possession before he was ruled out.
Green scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting before he was hurt. Silas said there is no timetable for Green’s return, but that he’ll be re-evaluated in a week.
“His mindset’s good,” Silas said. “He is anxious to get back quicker than a week, obviously. He was happy that we won and pumped for his teammates and knows that he has to go through this process of working with the performance team to get back. He’s been very driven as far as getting back. Also, there’s a level of disappointment I’m sure that he’s not letting on.
“He wants to play right now. He wanted to practice today but he can’t. There is going to be that impatience when it comes to him. He also needs to know that this is an 82-game season and we are in November. We need him to be right when he gets back so he doesn’t have to deal with his over and over and over as the season goes along.”
Green has averaged 14 points and 2.3 assists, making 38.2 percent of his shots and 27.8 percent of his 3-pointers in 18 games. In his past five games, he made 48.1 percent of his shots.
Silas might go small again
After surrounding center Christian Wood with four smaller players Wednesday, Silas said he might change his starting five indefinitely as necessary to match up with opponents. But after topping the Bulls with the small lineup Wednesday heading into three consecutive games against teams that also play smaller lineups, he might stick with the plan for at least a few more games.
“We’ll take a look at it,” Silas said after practice Friday. “Charlotte plays tonight. I have one more game I have to watch with them. But I think I can settle in for at least three games and see what it looks like.”
Told that sounded as if he would stick with a small lineup against the Hornets on Saturday and in two games against the Thunder, Silas said, “Could be.”
He will have to make one lineup change with Green out, likely moving Eric Gordon — who started as a small forward Wednesday — back to his natural shooting guard spot. By playing just one big man at a time and using Wood as a center, Daniel Theis went from starting every game he has played in to not playing at all against the Bulls. Silas said he made sure Theis knew that was not his intention.
“It’s definitely hard to have those conversations with them, and I had anticipated him playing that night, so that made it even worse. So we had a conversation around it and I told him that I planned on playing him.
“C-Wood starts at the five and we have ( Alperen Sengun) at the five, having three guys play that five spot is a little tough. But I told him I’m going to be intentional about hopefully getting him in the game.”
Tate could move back to the four
The Rockets’ return to playing small lineups might impact Wood the most, returning him to center and matchups with bigger opponents, but it also could change things for Jae’Sean Tate.
The 6-4 Tate was used as a power forward last season but generally has played on the wing this season. That actually could suit him more.
“I think especially when they put bigger guys … on me that exploits the mismatch,” Tate said. “With a bigger guy moving slow I get to slip out of screens, attack downhill. With a smaller guy, I can get more interior touches. I think coach has done a great job of just trying to help us all feel how to be more comfortable out there.”
Tate missed all four of his 3s on Wednesday and is making just 23.9 percent on the season. But he was 4-of-6 inside the 3-point line, and the return to a power forward spot could make his 3-point shooting less of a priority.
As a smaller four, Tate scores inside off a variety of moves, rather than quickly catching and shooting over opponents. That requires time and space, with more of both available if there is shooting on the floor.
“Everything is about our spacing, open shots, driving and doing moves inside the paint,” Tate said. “That is one thing that is our primary focus every day — spacing the floor. We don’t want people hanging out in the paint or in that dunker’s spot, because it just makes it more complicated for our offense.”