Houston Rockets pregame update and injury report

Nov 27, 2022 - 12:02 AM

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The Houston Rockets are coming off a big come from behind win vs. the Atlanta Hawks. A game they trailed at one point by 16 points in the third quarter. Then, Dejounte Murray and Trae Young started to have a party on the Toyota Center floor, and by now, you know the rest. The Rockets went on to outscore the Hawks by 22 points to end the game.

The Rockets take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on the second night of their home back-to-back. The Thunder also will be on the second night of a back-to-back after coming away with a win vs. the Chicago Bulls.

Injury update for tonight's game.

Coach Silas told the media that Alperen Sengun should be ready to go after missing last night's game with a right groin strain. Eric Gordon should also be back after sitting out the first night of the back-to-back. Bruno Fernando, who played his first game since the second game of the season, is sitting out tonight with left knee injury maintenance. Jae'Sean Tate is still out with right ankle soreness as he tries to work his way back to the lineup in the next few weeks.

Another interesting side note from Coach Silas's press conference. I asked him about the possibility of Jabari Smith closing more games at the center position.

Yeah, it’s very fluid. The defensive part has big, big,, influence on it. So yeah, it’s fluid depending on do we wanna switch, we wanna be in drop coverage, do we wanna um, you know, be able to do both like Jabari’s able to do and more a switcher and I’ll be more of a dropper. So yeah, uh, I usually take those last six minutes of the game and tilt it towards defense and get stops.

Even with Sengun back, it's possible that Garuba or Smith could close out the game at center. The Rockets are going for the first winning streak of the year, and their fifth overall on the season tonight at the Toyota Center tip-off time is 7 CT.