With back-to-back games looming, John Wall will miss Wednesday’s game at Oklahoma City for what the Houston Rockets are terming “left Achilles injury recovery.” Veteran guard Eric Gordon would appear to be the most likely candidate to start in Wall’s place against the Thunder.
Thursday’s game at Memphis (9-6), which has won seven straight overall, appears to be a tougher matchup for the Rockets — and that could be factoring into the decision of which game makes the most sense to play Wall. The Grizzlies are led by star point guard Ja Morant, which could make Wall a priority to counter Morant’s quickness and athleticism.
Wall missed most of the last two seasons with an Achilles injury, and he sat out five games earlier this month due to left knee soreness. In the aftermath of that absence, head coach Stephen Silas stressed the need for the Rockets to be cautious with the veteran point guard’s usage.
Now 30 years old, Wall is averaging 17.8 points and 5.8 assists per game with the Rockets on a career-high 37.3% shooting clip from 3-point range. His minutes per game are at a career low of 29.9, which the team believes will help keep him fresh over the long season.
There is nothing official, but Coach Silas has to manage a number of players coming off of major injuries. It is very likely that none of them will play both games of a back-to-back this season (similar to Russ last season). He is potentially staggering Wall and Oladipo.
— Cayleigh Griffin (@cayleighgriffin) February 2, 2021
With Wall resting and the Rockets short on ball-handling, rookie guard Mason Jones could fill some of those minutes off the bench.
As expected, defensive ace David Nwaba (left ankle sprain) is also listed as out for Wednesday’s game. With Nwaba sidelined for a few days, reserve guard Ben McLemore rejoined Houston’s rotation on Monday.
Wednesday’s game between the Rockets (10-9) and Thunder (8-11) tips off at 7:00 p.m. Central from Chesapeake Energy Arena. Houston enters on a season-long winning streak of six consecutive games.
