Though All-Star guard Russell Westbrook (right quad strain) has missed Houston’s first two games of the 2020 NBA playoffs, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni has said that new MRI imaging shows improvement.
Prior to the first-round playoff series versus Oklahoma City, a report indicated that the Rockets were hopeful that Westbrook could return as soon as this weekend — which seemed to point to Saturday’s Game 3. But after winning Game 2, with Houston now having a significant 2-0 cushion in the best-of-seven series, that could change the calculus.
Because the Rockets aren’t in immediate danger of being pushed close to elimination, that could buy them a few extra days to allow Westbrook to further heal and potentially get his quad closer to 100 percent.
This is so huge in the grand scheme of things. You can rest Russell Westbrook for at least another two games.
— RussNinetyFour (@RedNinetyFour) August 20, 2020
In D’Antoni’s comments after Thursday’s Game 2, he acknowledged that the series standing might play some role. He said:
I mean if you’re down 0-2, that puts you in a different position than 2-0. But we’re going to be careful with Russ, he’s too valuable to throw out there no matter what the situation is. He’s going to be well, and we can’t wait to get him back. We’re gonna be careful with it.
In the meantime, Westbrook is still finding ways to contribute with his coaching and cheering from the Houston bench.
Game 3 between the Rockets and Thunder will tip off at 5:00 p.m. Central on Saturday, with a national broadcast on ESPN and a regional version (with Houston announcers) on AT&T SportsNet Southwest.
Coach Russ is not playing with y'all pic.twitter.com/rYqZC0TZgX
— ESPN (@espn) August 20, 2020
