The Houston Rockets were severely shorthanded in Monday’s game at Utah, with the team’s two former MVPs and three most prominent starters all out of head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s lineup.
James Harden (bruised thigh), Russell Westbrook (rest), and Clint Capela (bruised heel) all watched the game from the bench.
Westbrook played Sunday in Denver and is scheduled to sit out one game of all back-to-backs this season as part of his recovery from offseason knee surgery. Since he doesn’t have a current injury, he’ll be back in the lineup in Houston’s next game on Wednesday night in Portland.
The status of Harden and Capela for Wednesday is not yet clear. Harden has now missed two straight games since bruising his thigh last Friday, while it’s the fourth absence in under a month for Capela due to his heel.
Harden, Westbrook, and Capela have combined to average 76.3 points, 28.2 rebounds, and 15.9 assists per game in the 2019-20 NBA season.
That’s a massive void for the Rockets (28-17) against any team, but especially versus the Jazz (32-13) on the second night of a road back-to-back for Houston. Entering Monday, Utah had won 19 of its last 21 games.
With the three absences, D’Antoni’s new-look (and smaller) starting lineup in Salt Lake City consisted of Austin Rivers, Eric Gordon, Ben McLemore, Danuel House Jr., and P.J. Tucker.
