The Houston Rockets lost veteran small forward Dillon Brooks to a right abdominal oblique strain during Tuesday’s home loss to Indiana. It is a soft tissue injury that has the potential to linger.
A day later, head coach Ime Udoka said Wednesday that he still did not know a potential timeline for Brooks’ return to the court.
As Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle noted, there are a wide variety of prognosis possibilities with oblique injuries, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will likely determine the extent of the strain. In turn, that will dictate the projected recovery timetable. The team typically issues updates after a player undergoes an MRI, but they had yet to do so as of Wednesday evening.
Brooks entered Tuesday averaging 13.7 points (47.7% FG, 41.1% on 3-poiters) and 3.6 rebounds in 31.3 minutes. The 27-year-old is among Houston’s top shooters, a respected locker-room leader and its most versatile defender, and his absence will certainly be felt as the Rockets continue a season-long homestand of seven games.
Houston (15-13) resumed play on Wednesday versus Phoenix (14-14). With Brooks unavailable, Jae’Sean Tate started in his place at small forward, and Tari Eason maintained his usual role off the bench.
