Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon has battled nagging injuries this season, resulting in him shooting a career-low 30.9% percent from the field, including 28.4% from 3-point range. In an effort to finish the season as healthy as possible, the 30-year-old will undergo a surgical clean-up procedure on his knee and is expected to miss up to six weeks to recover, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle and Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Timetable expected for Eric Gordon's absence from Rockets lineup: Up to six weeks, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. https://t.co/gSCosbej5K
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 12, 2019
Rockets guard Eric Girdon to undergo knee surgery, source confirms.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 12, 2019
Rockets expect Gordon to miss six weeks. Surgery will remove debris.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 12, 2019
Gordon is averaging just 10.9 points and 1.9 rebounds on the year as he adjusts to a different role with the addition of Russell Westbrook to the roster. The Rockets have managed to stay afloat in spite of the injuries their roster has suffered, including the potentially season-ending broken foot Gerald Green suffered in October, but Gordon’s injury might be their most devastating to date in spite of his rough start to the season.
With Gordon sidelined, Houston will have to find a way to get Russell Westbrook and James Harden rest with Austin Rivers and Ben McLemore as their primary (and only) backup options until Danuel House returns from an injury of his own. As Feigen notes, this also means Chris Clemons will likely join the rotation.
With Eric Gordon surgery and Danuel House Jr. likely out tomorrow against the Clippers, Rockets likely to start Ben McLemore. That means Austin Rivers and Chris Clemons to get the time off the bench in the backcourt.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 12, 2019
Of note, McLemore is shooting 33.3% from the field this season on 4.5 field goal attempts per game, which is actually better than what Gordon has been shooting this season, but Gordon’s career numbers favor him tremendously over McLemore.
Having two All-Star guards that don’t mind playing heavy minutes in Westbrook and Harden should make the injuries less difficult to deal with, but ideally they wouldn’t have to be playing close to 40 minutes per game at any point in the regular season. With Gordon sidelined, they might have to do just that.
The Rockets will deal with the cards they’ve been dealt, but they’ll struggle as much as any team missing a handful of their key role players.
