Rockets have injury double trouble

It appears that what was once one of the healthiest NBA teams has become a victim of the injury bug. Houston Rocket’s forward Tari Eason has missed eight straight games due to lower left leg injury management. Now what makes this concerning is that this is the exact leg Tari had surgery on during last season which limited Tari to just 22 games. Before this injury, Tari had essentially been an iron man, playing all 82 games in his rookie season (2022-2023), all 33 games in his sophomore collegiate season at LSU,(2021-2022), and all 23 games in his Freshman collegiate season with University Cincinnati (2020-2021).

What worries me the most is the possibility that Tari’s leg did not heal properly, as the last thing Rocket’s fans want is for Tari to deal with nagging leg injuries for the remainder of his career. Additionally, the player who could take a larger role with Tari Eason out is fellow Terror Twin Amen Thompson, however, Amen was suspended the last two games for failure to keep his hands to himself. Amen will be back Sunday and playing a lot of minutes, However, I expect Jeff Green to pick up some of Tari’s minutes as well even with Amen back.

Eason is still considered day-to-day but sounds like he could be out again on Sunday.

In addition to Eason’s injury; Houston Rocket’s Power Forward Jabari Smith Jr. is also injured, but rather than a leg injury, Jabari broke his left hand at shootaround before the Rockets Celtics game on January 3. He’s expcected to be out 4-8 weeks. Much like Tari, Jabari has a great defensive presence, but Jabari is also one of Houston’s best three-point shooters. Jabari is the second-best shooter from three on the team only behind Dillon Brooks and was shooting 35.4 percent from deep before the injury. My worry about Jabari’s absence is more on the offensive end rather than the defensive end because he was one of the few Rockets who could hit a triple somewhat reliably.

Well, many of you reading this may be wondering what’s next. Who replaces these guys? My gut feeling is that Jeff Green continues to get more minutes, and hopefully, Amen Thompson will get the starting nod when he returns from suspension on Sunday. We saw what this team looked like last night versus the Celtics without Amen, Tari, and Jabari, and it was not pretty. Houston could not make a three to save their lives. In a game where Houston lost by 21, Boston outscored Houston by 27 from three. Without Tari to push the pace and Jabari to hit some triples, the offense has to be better, especially now that Houston is entering a tough stretch of the season.