Rockets Enter New Year With Depth Depleted

On Sunday, the Rockets narrowly avoided defeat, holding off the Los Angeles Lakers in the final minute to win, 119-115. The win pushed the Rockets’ record to 23-12. The Rockets went 1-2 during the previous week. The win over the Lakers capped off a five game homestand during which Houston went 2-3.

Last Sunday, the Rockets laid a clunker at home against the Miami Heat, losing 104-100, in a game where tempers flared, earning forward Amen Thompson a two-game suspension after an altercation with Heat guard Tyler Herro. Empty-handed, the Rockets knocked off the similarly empty-handed Dallas Mavericks, playing without Luka Doncic, 110-99, on Wednesday. And then on Friday, playing without Thompson and forwards Tari Eason and Jabari Smith Jr., Houston was pummeled by the defending champion Boston Celtics, 109-86.

On Tuesday, the Rockets will head back out on the road to face a Washington Wizards team in a game where they will need to resist the temptation to play down to their competition. The Wizards are just 6-27 on the season. On Thursday, they will travel to Memphis to face a Grizzlies team with whom they have been neck and neck for the second seed for the past several weeks. And on Saturday, the Rockets will take on a rejuvenated Hawks team in Atlanta in an afternoon affair.

Life Without ‘Bari

The Rockets got a bad break late last week when it was announced that starting power forward Jabari Smith Jr. would miss at least one month after breaking his left hand at shootaround. The loss is particularly crippling because the Rockets continue to play without backup forward Tari Eason. Smith had started every game at power forward up until that point.

On the year, Smith had been averaging 11.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game. He is shooting 43.5% from the floor overall and 35.4% from long distance. Smith shot 38.2% from long distance in 15 games in November after a slow start to the season. He is an integral part of a Houston defense which ranked second overall in the league coming into the weekend.

Veteran forward Jae’Sean Tate started in place of Smith on Friday night against the Boston Celtics. This was largely due to the fact that second year forward Amen Thompson was serving the second game of a two-game suspension. Thompson started at power forward on Sunday against the Lakers and is expected to remain the starter.

Smith is earning $9.77 million this season after being selected third overall in the 2022 NBA draft. Along with Eason, also drafted in 2022, the Rockets have the right to sign Smith to a contract extension as soon as this summer.