Second-year guard Josh Christopher, who currently leads the Rockets in scoring at the 2022 NBA summer league in Las Vegas, will miss Houston’s last two games due to right hip soreness.
“I just aggravated it,” Christopher said, per Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle. “I’ve been grinding a lot since the end of the year to this point and I think my body’s just starting to wear a little bit. Just making the team decision. Nothing major at all, but it’s being precautious.”
Rick Higgins, Houston’s summer league head coach, said at Wednesday’s practice that the coaching staff was already considering shutting Christopher down as a precautionary measure, Lerner reports. Many teams around the league often end the summer league stints of their established players early, as a means of injury prevention.
In three summer games, Christopher had averaged 19.7 points (39.6% FG), 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.7 blocks in 26.8 minutes per game. With Christopher out, fellow second-year guard Daishen Nix and rookie TyTy Washington are likely to see increased backcourt usage, starting with Thursday’s game versus Portland (schedule).
The Rockets are 2-1 in summer league play, with two straight wins.
Rick Higgins said the #Rockets were going to talk today about potentially shutting Josh Christopher down for the rest of summer league given his significant playing time and contributions. Christopher's hip injury made the decision for them. https://t.co/QqBujCERLG
— Danielle Lerner (@danielle_lerner) July 13, 2022
