The All-Star break is here and excitement abounds for the many first-time All-Stars, including Houston’s own, and very much deserving, Alperen Sengun. However, teams across the league will be breathing a sigh of relief for the week-long break in their 82-game schedule. After their recent fall in the standings, the Houston Rockets will certainly be among them. However, there’s one injury situation the break may not be able to repair.
Dinged-Up Rockets Seeking Injury Repairs Over Break
The Starting Power Forward
The first Rockets starter to succumb to the injury bug was forward Jabari Smith Jr. While Smith had rebounded from a poor start to the season, the Rockets weren’t initially derailed too badly. That was partly because of a resultant increase in minutes for former bench player Amen Thompson. Now, Thompson doesn’t look like he should ever return to the bench again.
Thompson’s exact position is unclear. It could be he’s a forward, as he was when filling in for Smith, or it could be he’s a guard, as he’s had to be filling in for another Houston absence. Whatever the case, he’s first and foremost a winning basketball player who can guard anybody on the floor. If a team could play five Thompsons at once, they probably would. One day, an NBA team might settle for two.
Another Starting Power Forward
The closest thing the Rockets have to another Thompson is his former bench ally, Tari Eason. The Rockets’ early season success and identity arose primarily from two sources. First, their tried and tested starting lineup has been one of the most effective in the league. Then there was the Thomson-Eason defensive duo, arising nightly from the bench to chase basketball players around the court like the monsters from a Scooby Doo episode.
Still managing his injury from December last year, Eason has started for the Rockets in his last four games. He was especially phenomenal against the similarly dinged-up Phoenix Suns Wednesday night. Kevin Durant collected his hyper-efficient points total as usual, but the rest of Phoenix’s offense looked stuck in tar, thanks in no small part to Tari Eason, professional tar machine. Not only was he a menace defensively, clawing his way to three steals, but he also had 25 points, 9 rebounds, and four assists. Eason was everywhere on the court, swinging around the arena, long-limbed and menacing like a regular Tarzan. He looked like a million-dollar man. His actual nickname, Peso, turns the US-Mexican exchange rate on its head and then some.
Has Eason Sat Out His Last Back-to-Back?
But Eason’s ongoing recovery from injury sidelined him in yet another loss on Thursday night, this time to the latest Big Face Coffee chain, the Golden State Warriors. It was the second game of a back-to-back rather than an actual setback, but the absence was felt nonetheless. Earlier in the season, the Rockets’ biggest problem at forward was finding the minutes all their talented young players deserved. Now they’re leaning heavily on formerly rotation-banished reserves like Jeff Green and Jae’Sean Tate.
Smith is projected to return from injury in the Rockets’ first game after the All-Star break. Eason will presumably benefit from the extra recovery time as well. Sadly, though, it’s easy to worry whether a long, healthy career lies in store for Houston’s disruptor-in-chief. Eason has only played 36 games this season of a possible 52. That would be okay, but the worry comes from the fact he played just 22 games the whole of 2023-24.
The Rockets’ Most Disruptive Injury
Still, Green and Tate are on the roster precisely to provide depth in the event of Rockets injuries. The most impactful absence for Houston is one who can’t be replaced. That is Houston’s highest-paid player and, until next week, only All-Star game participant, Fred VanVleet. He’s the man who steers the rocket ship and without him, the team’s offense has veered dangerously out of control. Aaron Holiday can tie a career-high in his place and the team still can’t pull out a win. So far the expectation remains to have VanVleet return after the break as well. They’ll need him.
The Last Word
The Rockets managed to navigate a dangerous January largely unscathed, only to run afoul of a vengeful February. The team didn’t panic though. The excellent work they did earlier in the season means they are still in the race for a top-four seed. Rejuvenated by the break, and perhaps inspired by some Sengun heroics for the international team, the squad can get right back to some more excellent work to close out the season. The Rocketship is in need of major repairs, but the mission remains on track.
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