The injury looked concerning at the time, but second-year Houston Rockets prospect Jabari Smith Jr. is back in the starting lineup at power forward after missing just one game with a left ankle sprain.
It’s a welcome development for head coach Ime Udoka and the Rockets, who were already down one starting forward after losing Dillon Brooks a game earlier to a right oblique strain.
“The severity of it obviously wasn’t the same as Amen [Thompson],” Udoka said prior to Monday’s game versus Detroit. Thompson missed over a month with a Grade 2 ankle sprain earlier this season.
After spraining his ankle in last Wednesday’s loss to Phoenix, Udoka said Smith told team doctors that the pain was manageable, so they were always optimistic that it wouldn’t be a lengthy absence.
For Smith, the talented No. 3 pick of the 2022 first round, the injury came at a time when he was building momentum by the game. Over his previous four full-game outings, the 20-year-old had averaged 22.8 points (57.7% FG, 45% on 3-pointers) and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Now, as the calendar flips to 2024, Smith hopes to recapture that form. He’s likely to be on a slight minutes limitation in his initial games back, though the Rockets will soon lift it if there are no issues.
