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The Houston Rockets had a potential injury scare on Wednesday when it was revealed Russell Westbrook underwent an MRI on his right quadricep.
Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni said after Houston's game against the Indiana Pacers, Westbrook would be re-evaluated in a couple days, though he suggested he does not believe Westbrook aggravated the injury.
D’Antoni on Westbrook: “We’ll re-evaluate (quad)in a couple of days. He’s not gonna play Friday-I don’t think he aggravated it.During the game & after the game he was fine.Woke up the next day he was kind of sore. They’re checking it out & making sure it can respond to treatment”
— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) August 12, 2020
It might not come as a surprise Westbrook is feeling a little banged up.
The former league MVP had to delay his trip to Orlando after testing positive for COVID-19, then was forced to ramp up activity essentially the week of the seeding games.
Westbrook's absence on Friday–paired with today's inactive–will make it four missed games during the restart.
It is not all bad news, however, as Westbrook has looked pretty good when healthy. He nearly had a triple-double in the team's opener against the Dallas Mavericks, and also scored 31 points in a win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Aug. 2.
The Rockets are 2-2 in the four games Westbrook has played. They fell to 2-1 without him after losing to the Pacers on Wednesday afternoon.
Houston currently holds the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. The Rockets remain just a half-game up on the Oklahoma City Thunder, who can pull even with a win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday evening.
Regardless, it seems like the Rockets and Thunder are headed for a riveting first-round matchup, pitting Westbrook against his old team. Of course, he needs to be healthy first.
The Rockets will give Westbrook some rest and reassess his status in a few days.
