{"id":127743,"date":"2025-03-10T16:15:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T20:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=127743"},"modified":"2025-03-10T16:15:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T20:15:26","slug":"houston-rockets-depleted-backcourt-to-get-a-boost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/10\/houston-rockets-depleted-backcourt-to-get-a-boost\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Rockets Depleted Backcourt To Get A Boost"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Houston Rockets<\/a> haven’t received much good news on the injury front lately. But that could be soon, as Fred VanVleet <\/a>is slated to return sometime this week.<\/p>\n

Over the past few days, Houston<\/a> has learned that Reed Sheppard<\/a> and Amen Thompson<\/a> will miss several games. Sheppard will be out for at least until early April after fracturing his thumb on Thursday night against New Orleans. Meanwhile, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweeted last night that Thompson will be out for up to two weeks.<\/p>\n

Charania said via X<\/a>: “Houston Rockets emerging two-way force Amen Thompson will be sidelined for 10 to 14 days due to a left ankle sprain, sources tell ESPN. MRI on the ankle showed no structural damage, but Thompson will rehab and receive treatment for swelling.”<\/p>\n

Houston Rockets Depleted Backcourt To Get A Boost<\/h2>\n

While Thompson<\/a> and Sheppard’s injuries hurt, the good news for the Rockets is that they are healthier than a lot of teams. Plus, VanVleet could return as early as tonight against Orlando<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ime Udoka\u00a0<\/a>told Houston Chronicle’s Sam Warren<\/a> on March 8 that VanVleet is day-to-day.\u00a0 The 31-year-old guard is listed as questionable for tonight’s game. While it is not guaranteed that VanVleet will take the floor against the Magic, it is a good sign he has been upgraded to questionable.<\/p>\n

VanVleet has missed 15 of Houston’s last 16 games, including 11 with a sprained ankle. He returned for Houston’s 113-109 loss to Sacramento on March 1, but he was held to three points on 1 of 8 shooting, five assists, and three steals. However, VanVleet re-injured his ankle and has been sidelined since.<\/p>\n

Fred VanVleet Struggles<\/h3>\n

VanVleet has struggled this season, putting up his worst numbers since 2019-20. He averages 14.4 points, 5.8 assists, and 1.6 steals in 35.5 minutes over 46 appearances. He makes 2.6 threes a contest while compiling shooting splits of 38.3\/34.0\/82.4, the lowest since his rookie campaign.<\/p>\n

While VanVleet isn’t playing his best, the Rockets haven’t been the same without him. The Rockets (39-25) were 32-16 through the first 48 games, the fifth-best mark in the NBA. Through these games, they averaged 113.2 points and allowed 108.4 per game.<\/p>\n

Since that point, Houston has gone 7-9, including splitting their last 10. The Rockets have averaged 111.7 points and allowed 111.9 points during this stretch.<\/p>\n

As evident just by looking at the Rockets’ offensive and defensive, VanVleet is an integral part of what the Rockets do on both ends of the floor.\u00a0 While not a great individual defender, VanVleet can “get into” opposing ballhandlers and cause problems and turnovers.<\/p>\n

VanVleet is tied for the most efficient Rocket offensively, compiling a rating of 114.8 per 100 possessions, with Tari Eason<\/a>. Defensively, VanVleet is eighth but in line with the team’s average defenders. The team is definitely better with him on the floor than off.<\/p>\n

Overall, the Rockets are 30-16 in VanVleet’s games. When he is on the floor, the Rockets outscore their opponents by four points a game.<\/p>\n

Projecting The Rockets Rotation Over the Next Two Weeks<\/h3>\n

If VanVleet can’t go tonight, Wednesday will be his next opportunity when Houston hosts Phoenix.<\/a> If Van Vleet can’t play, Udoka has options. The Rockets could start Aaron Holiday<\/a> at point, with Jalen Green<\/a> remaining at the two. Or Green could slide over to the point with Dillon Brooks<\/a> at shooting guard.<\/p>\n

In the latter scenario, Jabari Smith Jr<\/a>. has come off the bench in five of his last nine appearances. If re-inserted, Smith would play the four, with Eason sliding up to small forward.<\/p>\n

With three core backcourt players out, Green<\/a> would have to handle more ballhandling duties and likely see more court time. Green has played over 40 minutes three times this season.\u00a0 Holiday, known for his defensive acumen and 3-point shooting, is having a solid season despite seeing just 12.1 minutes a game.<\/p>\n

Holiday has seen increasing more minutes as the season more recently. He also has been more productive in his three starts than coming off the bench, compiling 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. Even if VanVleet does return against the Magic, Holiday should see an uptick in mutes.<\/p>\n

Cam Whitmore,<\/a> who also can defend, projects to see more time tonight if VanVleet sits out another contest. Whitmore has been much more effective over the last few games. Even when VanVleet returns, Whitmore should see more consistent playing time over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

JaeSean Tate<\/a> and Jeenathan William<\/a>s could also be in line for more playing time until at least Thompson returns.<\/p>\n

Photo Courtesy of \u00a9 Erik Williams, Imagn Images\u00a0|<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Houston Rockets haven’t received much good news on the injury front lately. But that could be soon, as Fred VanVleet is slated to return sometime this week. Over the past few days, Houston has learned that Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson will miss several games. Sheppard will be out for at least until early […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":127860,"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":[1608,2,31,62],"tags":[4703,1244,4745,50005],"class_list":["post-127743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-rockets","category-nba","tag-amen-thompson","tag-fred-vanvleet","tag-nba-injuries","tag-reed-shepard"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127743","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\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127743"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127872,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127743\/revisions\/127872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}