{"id":127660,"date":"2025-03-09T11:10:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T15:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=127660"},"modified":"2025-03-09T11:10:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T15:10:45","slug":"rockets-amen-thompson-ankle-injury-stat-padding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/09\/rockets-amen-thompson-ankle-injury-stat-padding\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockets&#8217; Playmaker Suffers Injury While Stat-Padding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Houston Rockets playmaker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompam01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amen Thompson<\/a> is set to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KellyIko\/status\/1898594551226421465\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">undergo an MRI<\/a> after sustaining a left ankle injury during their victory against the New Orleans Pelicans, according to The Athletic&#8217;s Kelly Iko. As he left the court, he was able to move under his own power. However, as he left arena, the 22-year-old was seen in a walking boot and using crutches.<\/p>\n<p>In his postgame presser, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka was unable to deliver a decisive diagnosis.<\/p>\n<h2>Rockets&#8217; Amen Thompson Suffers Ankle Injury While Stat-Padding<\/h2>\n<p>What&#8217;s particularly unfortunate is that the game was already well in hand for the Rockets when Thompson was injured. However, Udoka left Thompson on the court, hoping the second-year pro would notch his fifth career triple-double. Not only did he fail to record the rebound that wouldn&#8217;t have given it to him, he landed on Pelicans big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/matkoka01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Karlo Matkovic<\/a>&#8216;s foot after he pulled up for an early shot clock jumper.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">How Amen Thompson got injured: Looks like it is a rolled left ankle on this landing. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NF1si0cV1F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/NF1si0cV1F<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ClutchFans (@clutchfans) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/clutchfans\/status\/1898556273223782588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The No. 4 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Thompson finished his night with 15 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds. Perhaps just as impressively, he was a +39 in his minutes and Houston defeated New Orleans by 29 points.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Amen Thompson tonight:<\/p>\n<p>15 PTS<br \/>\n9 REB<br \/>\n11 AST<br \/>\n+39<\/p>\n<p>Only Nikola Jokic has recorded these numbers in a game or better in the last 3 years. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cQczVXgNQD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/cQczVXgNQD<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 StatMuse (@statmuse) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/statmuse\/status\/1898565659623301478?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Still, the timing of Thompson&#8217;s injury leaves an opening to debate the merits of <em>stat-padding<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>For example, when Denver Nuggets point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/westbru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Westbrook<\/a> won an NBA MVP Award with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017, some of his statistical feats were seemingly the byproduct of <em>stat-padding<\/em>. There were some who didn&#8217;t mind it because Westbrook was expending so much energy on a nightly basis in an effort to win. There were others who didn&#8217;t believe it was the most honest way to play the game or be rewarded.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Maybe because Russell Westbrook was ACTUALLY stat-padding??? <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/C5dUkzyDnT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/C5dUkzyDnT<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LJXA9JCUim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/LJXA9JCUim<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 omo the conqueror (@yungmustard23) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/yungmustard23\/status\/1762634766749221210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 28, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>For players and coaches, <em>stat-padding<\/em> could be a way for what they felt was a special game to be remembered.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, when players get injured while attempting to <em>stat-pad<\/em>, it&#8217;s almost like the basketball gods themselves got involved.<\/p>\n<h3>What&#8217;s Next For The Rockets?<\/h3>\n<p>It&#8217;s possible that Thompson&#8217;s injury wasn&#8217;t severe. Nonetheless, it isn&#8217;t uncommon for players to be out for weeks after rolling their ankle. Thus, considering what the Rockets&#8217; options are without Thompson should be a fruitful exercise. With that being said, Houston&#8217;s point guard depth is currently far from optimal.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, rookie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sheppre01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reed Sheppard<\/a> was ruled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/sports\/rockets\/article\/reed-sheppard-injury-update-20210776.php\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">out for four weeks minimum<\/a> with a fractured thumb. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vanvlfr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fred VanVleet<\/a> is day-to-day, having played two games since Jan. 30 as he nurses an ankle injury.<\/p>\n<p>If the Rockets don&#8217;t have Thompson, Sheppard, or VanVleet in the fold, they may be forced to turn to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greenja05.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Green<\/a> at point guard. They do have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidaa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Holiday<\/a>, a nominal point guard. However, Holiday is more of an off-guard than lead guard. Meanwhile, the explosive Green isn&#8217;t just a respectable facilitator, he&#8217;s become a more shrewd decision-maker.<\/p>\n<p>Lucky for Houston, they can also use center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sengual01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alperen Sengun<\/a> as a playmaking hub. In fact, Sengun is second on the team in assists per game (4.9), barely trailing VanVleet&#8217;s assist average (5.8).<\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<p class=\"ng-binding\">\u00a9 Troy Taormina-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Houston Rockets playmaker Amen Thompson is set to undergo an MRI after sustaining a left ankle injury during their victory against the New Orleans Pelicans, according to The Athletic&#8217;s Kelly Iko. As he left the court, he was able to move under his own power. However, as he left arena, the 22-year-old was seen in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":127666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,1608,20,62,22],"tags":[4293,4703,3256,4745,53],"class_list":["post-127660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rockets","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-nba","category-thunder","tag-alperen-sengun","tag-amen-thompson","tag-jalen-green","tag-nba-injuries","tag-russell-westbrook"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127660"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127667,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127660\/revisions\/127667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}