Rockets Forward P.J. Tucker Got Three Root Canals Prior To Game 7 Against The Warriors

You know how every once in a while, an NBA story drops that causes your jaw to hit the floor, usually for a reason other than “Bryan Colangelo might have talked crap about Joel Embiid from multiple private Twitter accounts?” We got one of those stories on Wednesday afternoon during the Houston Rockets’ exit interviews, courtesy of P.J. Tucker.

Apparently, Tucker wasn’t quite at 100 percent during Game 7 against the Golden State Warriors. But the veteran forward didn’t have a bum ankle or a hand injury — instead, Tucker played in the game after getting three root canals.

If your first thought is something other than “this is insane,” uh, well you’re probably a hockey fan, but whatever. Tucker was immense in Game 7, going for 14 points and 12 rebounds in 45 minutes of action. Doing it after getting three root canals make the achievement even more impressive, even in a loss.

As for what happened, it appears Tucker might have suffered a few cracked teeth during Game 6. Either that or his mouth got all messed up before that game tipped off.

Tucker has always been considered a pretty tough dude, but this takes things to another level. To paraphrase the immortal Dan Fouts, it’s potentially the last game of the year, you can’t hold anything back now, even if that thing is an incredibly sore mouth because of three root canals.