Houston Rockets fans have been over the moon with the team so far in 2025-26. They just secured a win over the Portland Trailblazers to stay alive in the NBA Cup on Friday night. Unfortunately, the victory was not without cost. It’s been reported that key reserve Tari Eason will be out 4-6 weeks with an injury. How will the team respond?
Rambunctious Rockets Forward To Miss 4-6 Weeks
Reports say that Eason will miss 4-6 weeks with a strained oblique. Some good news for Houston is that it seemed like a fluke injury, as he appeared to pick it up on a closeout on the Portland Trail Blazers’ Kris Murray.
Tari Eason has a strained oblique and will be out 4-6 weeks, Rockets coach Ime Udoka just told us after practice.
— Danielle Lerner (@danielle_lerner) November 15, 2025
The bad news for Houston is obvious. Eason has played an extremely valuable role for them this season. Indeed, he’s been playing a valuable role for them since he was drafted. Only this season, he’s seemingly levelled up one key aspect of his game.
Eason has been phenomenal in 2025-26. He’s averaging 11.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. However, the most impressive thing has been his three-point shooting. Eason is averaging a whopping 50.9% from three-point range.
Against the Blazers, Eason was already having something of an off night, finishing 0-5 from the field. Normally, Eason’s relentlessness would make him a good bet to turn it around. However, he wouldn’t get the chance. He played only 10 minutes, 39 seconds. After a turnover forced by the savvy defense of Jrue Holiday, Eason exited the floor at the 06:50 mark of the second quarter. He came up hobbling after an awkwardly landed closeout in the resulting fast break. In typical Eason fashion, he forced the miss.
Who Will Step Up For Rockets?
Eason isn’t the Rockets’ only member of the injury list. For one thing, the team will be without its starting point guard, Fred VanVleet, for the entire season. However, the Rockets are also still awaiting the debut of injured offseason acquisition Dorian Finney-Smith. The team is probably just being ultra cautious with the 32-year-old veteran, but the Eason injury is unlikely to alter that approach.
Short of Finney-Smith’s return, the Rockets can certainly make up Eason’s minutes with more run for surprise starter Josh Okogie and newly levelled-up sharpshooter Reed Sheppard. Okogie is averaging just 22.6 minutes per game, and Sheppard only 22.4. Furthermore, Jae’Sean Tate, Aaron Holiday, and Jeff Green are veterans waiting in the wings should spot minutes become available. Even so, there’s no question the team will miss Eason’s combination of size, hustle, and unexpected marksmanship.
Hopefully, the injury won’t have any impact on Eason’s contract situation. Supposedly, Eason turned down a $100 million extension from the Rockets. Instead, he chose to become a restricted free agent in the 2026 offseason. Assuming he returns as scheduled without complication, and picks up where he left off, his gamble should pay off nicely. Frankly, even with the limited sample size of the season so far, more than a few teams might take a risk on him.
The Last Word
The Rockets’ next game will be a brawl at home versus the Orlando Magic on Sunday night. Undoubtedly, that will begin the trials for any newly available rotation spots. Even as Houston’s depth continues to be challenged, expect the All-Star duo of Alperen Sengun and Kevin Durant to continue powering the team onwards. The Rockets will certainly miss Eason, but they won’t tarry in the win column too badly without him.
Featured Image: Tory Taormina-Imagn Images
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