2 min read • December 23, 2021
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This year's No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green is set to return to the Rockets Thursday night from a left hamstring strain that left him out for 14 games, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Green suffered the injury on Nov. 24 when he landed awkwardly after being fouled on a drive. He writhed on the ground and left the game immediately after, beginning the first extended absence in the 19-year-old’s blossoming career. He’s likely to see limited minutes in condensed spurts as he works back into game shape, but he will still be relied on heavily in the absence of small forward Kevin Porter Jr., who is still out with an ailing thigh (his projected return is Dec. 27, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic). Assuming his ramp-up was slow, he will be ready to go, but will have to be careful, as his explosive playing style creates constant risk for setbacks or re-injuries.
The franchise cornerstone's matchup – the 13-19 Pacers – is a good one, especially if Malcolm Brogdon does indeed miss the contest with the Achilles injury he suffered on Tuesday night. Brogdon, who is listed as questionable with a sore Achilles, leads Indiana in scoring and assists with 19 and 6 per game, respectively.
The Pacers are already short point guard T.J. McConnell, who is out indefinitely as he recovers from surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb, leaving them with a potential backcourt unit of Caris LeVert, Chris Duarte, and Brad Wanamaker to contest with the explosive Green.
Green will return to a Houston team that ran off a 7-game win streak starting the night that Green was hurt, carried by forward Christian Wood and Eric Gordon and with contributions from a motley crue of former G-League players and multiple rookies.
Before the injury, Green was scoring 14 points and pulling in 3 rebounds on 38.2% shooting in his first 18 games.
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