The Rockets take on a Magic squad desperate to move up the Eastern Conference standings
Just as the Houston Rockets were starting to round into form and the 6-game homestand was starting to look like a great jumping off point for the remainder of the season, the injury bug hit once again.
Amen Thompson will miss a handful of games with a sprained ankle and Reed Sheppard won’t be available until the final week of the season at the earliest. More than likely, we’ve seen the last meaningful minutes of Sheppard’s rookie season.
Of course, Houston will get zero commiseration from the Orlando Magic, a team that has dealt with injuries that only the New Orleans Pelicans (and Dallas Mavericks recently) can understand. Paolo Banchero has missed 34 games. Franz Wagner has missed 20. Jalen Suggs has missed 30 and is done for the season. Mo Wagner has missed 35 and is also done. The Magic lost in 7 games to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round last year. Certainly they expected to make another leap and enter the conversation as a top 4 team in the East. Instead, as I type this they are half a game back of the seven seed and in a virtual tie with the nine seed. Remember, the seven seed is guaranteed two home playoff games. The eight seed is guaranteed one and gets two chances to advance. The nine seed gets one home game but must win both that one and the following game on the road to advance. It’s a huge difference.
The Rockets will have to find their new normal without Thompson, who has been a steady contributor all season whether it be in the starting lineup or off the bench. Ime Udoka depends on Amen to fill a lot of gaps, and now those will be even more difficult to fill without the athletic wonder that is Thomspon.
We’ll be in the Playback room tonight, so you should come join to watch the Rockets and talk about the game. Remember, we get a handful of VIP passes that we give out to anyone who wants to watch the game. No League Pass necessary!
Tip-off
7pm CT
How To Watch
Space City Home Network and Playback
Injury Report
Rockets
Fred VanVleet: GTD
Reed Sheppard: OUT
Amen Thompson: OUT
Magic
Jalen Suggs: OUT
Mo Wagner: OUT
The Line (as of this post)
HOU -4
Check here for updates
Looking ahead because we can
Wednesday night in Houston against the Phoenix Suns
new Playback.Embed(“playback-embed”, {
room: “thedreamshake”,
style: { height: “100%”, width: “100%” },
});