The Houston Rockets have gotten off to a surprising start to the 2023-24 season but have yet to find any consistency. The Rockets ran off six straight wins after starting the season with three consecutive losses. The Rockets then immediately lost three straight to fall back to .500. Since then, Houston has alternated losing and winning streaks. Now, the Rockets may be without two-fifths of their starting lineup for the near future.<\/p>\n
Houston was without Dillon Brooks<\/strong><\/a> (oblique) and Jabari Smith Jr.<\/strong><\/a> (ankle) in last night’s 131-127 home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, as the Rockets were outscored 41-30 in the final stanza. It was the second straight game that Brooks missed while Smith sat out his first contest, though it doesn’t sound like it will be either one’s last absence.<\/p>\n “Not exact dates, but hopefully it is a shorter-term thing, two or three games possibly<\/em>,\u201d Rockets coach Ime Udoka told Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle<\/a> when asked when he expected the pair to return. \u201cDon\u2019t want to give exact. About a week or so<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Feigan said that Udoka added that oblique injuries \u201ccan be tricky\u201d to recover from, so Brooks\u2019 timeline is particularly hazy.<\/p>\n Brooks left Tuesday’s game against Indiana with a right abdominal oblique strain after logging 22 minutes. Meanwhile, Smith suffered the ankle injury midway through the third quarter against Phoenix on Wednesday night when he stepped on teammate Tari Eason<\/strong><\/a>‘s foot.<\/p>\n Houston (15-15) will take a three-game losing streak into their Monday game against Detroit (3-29), who snapped its historic losing streak on Saturday against Toronto. Jeff Green<\/strong><\/a> started at power forward against the 76ers, contributing 10 points and four boards in 33 minutes. Green and Jae’Sean Tate<\/strong><\/a>, who has started the past two contests at small forward, will likely remain in the starting lineup until Brooks and Smith return.<\/p>\n In his first game back after a four-contest absence, Jimmy Butler<\/strong> <\/a>left the Miami Heat’s 117-109 loss to the Utah Jazz in the third quarter after suffering an ankle injury. But Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sentinel reported that the x-rays on his foot came negative.<\/p>\n X-rays on Jimmy Butler's foot came back negative.<\/p>\n — Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) December 31, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nJimmy Butler Suffers Another Injury<\/h3>\n
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