NBA
Rockets Chris Paul to miss 2-3 weeks with hamstring injury, sign Rivers
The Houston Rockets have been on a role lately with their explosive offense helping them make their way back in the playoff picture. But the Rockets may have suffered a terrible loss to their offense with Chris Paul missing action.
Paul was forced to leave the court during last Thursday’s game against the Miami Heat. He suffered a left hamstring strain. The team announced he would miss the remainder of the game shortly after the injury. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Rockets are hopeful that Paul may only miss 2-3 weeks due to the hamstring strain injury.
Hamstring issues continue to be a pain
This isn’t the first time that Paul has dealt with hamstring issues. In the 2018 Western Conference Finals, He suffered a right hamstring strain late in Game 5 after willing the Rockets to victory. The veteran point guard missed Games 6 and 7 of that series against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors would end up winning those potential elimination games to advance to the NBA Finals. Many believe that series was the Rockets for the taking.
The injury occurred when Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. knocked the ball loose, and Paul immediately clutched at his left leg in pain. The All-Star guard quickly went to the locker room for further observation.
Before suffering the hamstring injury, Paul had scored four points on 1-of-3 shooting while dishing out four assists.
As stated earlier, the Rockets have been playing their best basketball lately. This injury could definitely put a halt to Houston’s momentum. The Rockets are back in action on Christmas Day and they’ll host the red hot Oklahoma City Thunder. James Harden has been averaging 39 points on this winning streak. And it looks like he’s going to have to also be the facilitator while Paul is out of action.
Rockets’ new signing
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Austin Rivers has agreed to a guaranteed deal for the rest of the season. Rivers will likely help Houston replace Paul, while he is recovering from injury. The Rockets are 1-5 this season without their All-star point guard.
Rivers, 26, averaged 7.2 points in 23.6 minutes on 39 percent shooting while playing 29 games for the wizards this season. He averaged a career-best 15.1 points, 4 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the Clippers last season before an offseason trade to Washington.
Paul had no objections to the Rockets’ decision to sign Rivers even after the issues they had as teammates in Los Angeles.
The Suns acquired Rivers in the trade that sent Trevor Ariza to the Washington Wizards on Dec. 15, but then Phoenix waived him.
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James Anderson via Flickr
