Excuses, excuses…
Injuries have kept the Rockets from executing their gameplan
The Houston Rockets have suffered a lot of injuries this year, and it’s held them back.
Injuries. Yuck.
The worst part of sports. Bar none. Everything you planned was wasted. It was all contingent on the roster you thought you had.
You know injuries are coming, but you don’t know when or where. They cannot be accounted for.
They’ve been one of the defining features of the Houston Rockets’ season.
There are different types of injuries - or more to the point, different types of NBA players. The Rockets’ stars have mostly been healthy. Alperen Sengun has been dealing with some ailments lately. They seem to be impacting his level of play when he can get on the floor. Still, he’s appeared in 39 of the Rockets’ 46 games.
Still, an NBA team can’t survive on star power alone. There are lower usage players who are functionally integral to a team’s gameplan.
The Rockets have been missing those guys all year.
Key Rockets players are missing
It starts with Fred VanVleet.
How did the Rockets succeed last year? By controlling the possession game. They dominated the offensive glass, and their 14.0% Turnover Percentage ranked a sufficient 11th in the NBA.
They still control the glass. Their 40.6% Offensive Rebound Percentage is historic. Regrettably, their 15.8% Turnover Percentage is third-worst in the league.
There’s a clear causal relationship between the increased turnover and the loss of VanVleet. He’s one of the safest point guards in the NBA. VanVleet seldom makes mistakes.
At times, fans complained about his conservative brand of offense. The league’s most significant needle-movers indeed take risks to yield rewards. That’s why VanVleet isn’t a superstar, but his ability to manage the offense was always part of the game plan.
Now, there’s concern that the other half of the plan will be compromised.
Steven Adams was an undeniably large part of that dominant offensive rebounding. He’s one of the best in league history. Clint Capela will suffice, and the Rockets will still lead the NBA in Offensive Rebounding % at the end of the season. That said, their utter dominance may be weakened.
Especially if Tari Eason keeps missing games. Like Sengun, he’s been around more than not (36 games), but given his history, the missed games are a cause for concern. Sengun likely needs to just take a week off and let that ankle fully heal. It’s a bit more difficult to diagnose the oft-injured Eason. Getting his additional offensive rebounding from the wings has been part of Houston’s strategy as well.
What will they do if he’s not available?
Rockets need to focus
What’s more, Dorian Finney-Smith’s whole season has been compromised. He was Houston’s big summer signing. It’s not Finney-Smith’s fault, but Houston has seen little return on investment. Even when he’s available, Finney-Smith looks like he’s working through the rust.
This team feels snake-bitten. Little has gone right. Well…
There’s always next year.
VanVleet should be back. Adams too. If everything clicks, the 2026-27 season could be a banner year for the Rockets:
But they can’t afford to think that way.
Win a playoff series. That’s all we ask in 2025-26. It would be a step forward. After that, the Rockets would be playing with house money:
If they were structurally intact, it would be a different story.
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