With only four games left to play in the 2023-24 season and postseason contention off the table, it no longer makes sense for the Houston Rockets to be aggressive with any injury return timetables.
Thus, to no surprise, injured center Alperen Sengun and reserve forward Jae’Sean Tate likely won’t play again until the 2024-25 season this fall. Both are currently dealing with a right ankle sprain.
“No need to rush them back,” head coach Ime Udoka said prior to Tuesday’s game. While Sengun has steadily increased his physical activities, Udoka said there was still some swelling in the ankle, which would need to go down before he could be cleared to play.
Udoka said that Tate’s injury had lingered for a while, and he missed most of the 2022-23 season while dealing with ankle and foot issues.
“I would say unlikely,” Udoka concluded regarding a potential 2023-24 return scenario for both Sengun and Tate.
With 63 games played, Sengun finishes the season as Houston’s leading scorer (21.1 points) and rebounder (9.3) on a per-game basis, shooting 53.7% overall. He also averaged 5.0 assists in 32.5 minutes.
Tate was among Houston’s most valuable bench defenders.
Without Sengun and Tate, the Rockets (38-40) began their closing stretch of the 2023-24 season with Tuesday’s home finale versus Orlando (46-32). Houston can secure at least a .500 season with victories in three of their final four contests, though they need to win all four games for it to be a winning campaign.
Houston has not had a winning season since 2019-20, when its roster was led by All-Star guards James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
