Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. has missed the past three games with a thigh injury that he re-aggravated last week against the Memphis Grizzlies. He initially thought playing through the injury was the right course of action, but decided it was best to take a full week off to let the injury heal completely.
“I feel good,” said Porter on returning. “I just wanted to take my time, especially since it's the second time I hit my thigh. That was my body telling me to sit down and letting it heal. I put it through a lot of irritation already.”
The Rockets have started veteran Eric Gordon in Porter's place and have actually seen better starts to games with him on the floor. But KPJ is expected to reclaim his starting job. The Rockets, who have only won one game, aren't naive to how important Porter is to the team right now.
“He's our floor leader right now,” said forward Jae'Sean Tate. “He's one of the most important parts of the teams in terms of making decisions and being vocal. We need him. It's a completely different game when he's not out there.”
Although the turnovers have continued to be an issue for him, Porter leads the Rockets in assists and the offense has been 2.5 points per 100 possessions better when he's been on the floor. They have only scored 97.3 points per 100 possessions this season and that number has dropped to 90.8 points in the last three games without KPJ.
The Rockets just looked extremely disorganized, in large part due to a lack of competent playmaking. With Porter out, the team has had to lean on backup guards Jalen Green and DJ Augustin for PG duties, which hasn't been pretty.
“We were already on a slump before I was out,” said Porter. “Seeing them compete and getting to those third and fourth quarters and running out of gas and I can't do nothing or be a part of it, it's never a feeling you want to have being an athlete. Leaving your team out being on the bench and not being able to help and contribute.”
For the first time this season, the Rockets will have an extended stretch of games at home. They will spend the bulk of their next two weeks in Houston (7 out of 8 games). KPJ traveled with the team during his injury spell and spent his time studying from afar as they tried to snap their losing streak. It's given him a unique view of the squad and he believes this will serve as an advantage when he returns.
“You get to see a different perspective,” said Porter. “Especially when you start and an injury happens, you get to see a different perspective. You get to be on the outside looking in. It helps you slow the game down. That's what I kind of needed, especially being the starter now and the primary ball-handler. I kind of needed that perspective to help the team and contribute a lot more. It was a blessing in disguise that I had this time to heal and hopefully it pays off.”
Although the three-point shot hasn't come along quite yet, Porter has taken steps to be a less harmful defender this season. One of the only things holding him back at this point is the propensity for turnovers. For every assist he has tallied, he's basically had a turnover to go along with it. If anyone's needed the game to slow down for him, it's Porter.
“It's always good to take a step back and see,” said Stephen Silas on Porter's absence. “Sometimes when you're in it, you don't get to see as much, feel as much, and see where your reads are. It's different when you're watching it live as opposed to on film because it's real-time. It's going to be great to have him back, but hopefully, there has been growth in that time that he was out. Not only in execution, but I'm sure he's a little more hungry after being out. It's hard when you really want to play and you can't.”
The Rockets take on the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday and it'll be interesting to see this theory in action.
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