Dillon Brooks will be back in the Rockets‘ lineup for tonight’s game at Boston, tweets Kelly Iko of The Athletic. The defensive specialist has been out of action since December 26 due to a right abdominal oblique injury. He won’t be on a minutes restriction, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Brooks, who took part in his team’s pre-game shootaround on Friday night for the first time since the injury, talked to Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle about his recovery process.
“It’s been a struggle,” he said. “I want to be out there so bad. Talking about switching, being disciplined on switching, and any time they have an opening to attack the offensive end or whatever, trying to accomplish that.”
Brooks has helped to transform the Rockets’ defense after signing as a free agent last summer, bringing a strong presence to a team that finished near the bottom of the league in nearly every significant defensive category during its three years of rebuilding. Lerner points out that the version of Houston’s starting lineup that includes Brooks is among the NBA’s best five-man units in terms of net rating and defensive rating.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Rockets coach Ime Udoka returns to the TD Garden tonight for the first time since leading the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals, notes Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Udoka has maintained close ties with his former players, but this marks their first on-court meeting since he was suspended and ultimately replaced by Joe Mazzulla. “I saw Ime a couple of times this summer. That’s somebody I got a really, really good relationship with. Talk to him all the time,” Jayson Tatum said. “I’m happy for him that he’s gotten this new opportunity. I think they’re going to see a lot of improvement with that team, right? They got some new talent, some new guys, so that helps. Playing against him is going to be a little weird. It’s going to be the first head coach that I’ve had to play against that I had. So it’s going to be different.”
- Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama responded Friday to rumors that some teammates are reluctant to share the ball with him, tweets Josh Paredes of FanSided. “Of course, I’ve heard it, but it’s never been even close to reality,” Wembanyama said. “There’s nobody on this team that doesn’t want to pass me the ball and there’s nobody I don’t want to pass the ball to.”
- Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. are the latest additions to the Grizzlies‘ long injury list. Bane, who has a sprained left ankle, is one of seven players who have been declared out for tonight’s game against New York, while Jackson is listed as doubtful with a right knee contusion.
- Vince Williams‘ new contract with the Grizzlies is valued at $9.1MM over four years, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), with the first three seasons guaranteed at $6.6MM. The fourth year is a team option.
The Wemby rumors are ridiculous. Spurs have a bunch of young players trying to figure out how to play with a player unlike any they have ever seen. They’d have to be pretty dumb to not want to run the offense through him.