The Houston Rockets are making a serious push to return to the NBA Western Conference playoffs after a four-year absence, and just two seasons removed from a sorry streak of three seasons with fewer than 23 wins. But the Rockets’ campaign for redemption took a blow on Saturday night when the one of the team’s most promising young prospects suffered an an injury that could only characterized as highly avoidable and unnecessary.
The Houston NBA franchise was founded in San Diego, California, in 1967 as the San Diego Rockets, a name chosen by fans in honor of the Southern California city’s new “space age” industries. But the fans were less interested in the actual team, which moved out of California to Houston, Texas, in 1971. Of course, the team’s name stuck because the Houston area, after all, is home to NASA’s space center.
It didn’t take long for the Rockets to build a distinguished NBA resumé in Houston, making their first playoff appearance in 1975 and first NBA Finals bid in 1981, losing to the Boston Celtics in six games. Five years later the Rockets were back in the Finals, and again lost to the Celtics in six.
Rockets Looking for Return to Glory Era
The high point for the franchise came in 1994 and 1995, when the Rockets won back to back championships, led by legendary, Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon. The team continued to be a Western Conference playoff mainstay, reaching the conference finals most recently in 2018 when they took the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors to seven games.
Under second-year coach Ime Udoka, the Rockets are now attempting to restore their former status with a core of athletic, young players â perhaps none more so than their 2023 first-round draft pick, fourth overall, out of Overtime Elite Academy, Amen Thompson.
The 22-year-old small forward, now in the second year of his four-year, $40 million rookie contract, was the breakout player in this year’s Rising Stars tournament on All-Star weekend, and as a result was picked to play against established NBA All-Stars in the weekend’s All-Star tournament finale.
For the Rockets, Thompson has averaged 14 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 60 games so far in this, his second NBA season. He is also looked on as a top candidate for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award.
Thompson Keeps Playing in Blowout With Bad Result
But now his season, and the Rockets’ hopes of avoiding the Western Conference play-in tournament, appear in doubt after Thompson turned his left ankle in the fourth quarter of a game in which the Rockets were leading the New Orleans Pelicans by 33 points with just 5:31 remaining in the game.
Thompson was the only Houston starting player remaining on the floor after Udoka sat the others in the blowout. But Thompson was one rebound away from recording a triple-double. Udoka left the rising prospect in the game, presumably to give him a chance at the landmark, but the ploy backfired. As Thompson attempted a pull-up, mid-range jump shot, he landed on the foot of Pelicans’ center Karlo Matkovic, twisting the ankle.
Thompson was able to walk to the locker room under his own power, but was seen after the game in a walking boot, on crutches, according to Kelly Iko, regional NBA reporter for The Athletic. Thompson is scheduled to receive medical imaging on the ankle to determine the severity of the injury on Sunday, Iko reported.
At 39-25, the Rockets now sit in the Western Conference fifth-seed, but just 3 1/2 games ahead of the play-in bracket. They host the 30-35 Orlando Magic on Monday, and the 29-34 Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
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