The Houston Rockets will be without one of the their main players in Trevor Ariza for quite some time.
Ariza strained his hamstring recently, Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni said the injury should keep him out a few games, per Mark Berman of Fox 26.
Mike D'Antoni says Trevor Ariza (left hamstring strain) will miss "a few games." pic.twitter.com/LmPbuUNeF2
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 29, 2018
Johnathan Feigen provided an even more detailed update on Ariza from D'Antoni, who said he will likely miss five total games because of the hamstring injury.
D'Antoni expects Ariza to miss the upcoming four-game road trip in addition to tomorrow vs. Magic.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) January 29, 2018
Ariza is an integral piece to the Rockets and all that they do. He provides staunch perimeter defense, strong shooting from the 3-point line, and also a veteran presence on the team. The Rockets being without him for five games will put a dent in the team's armor for about a week or two.
At the same time, hamstring injuries have shown a tendency to linger for players. It seems like they are fine on one day, but then it flares up and a player has to continue rehab. In that sense, it's best that Ariza takes his time to rest and get healthy again.
The Rockets currently sit comfortably in second place in the Western Conference, six games ahead of the third-place San Antonio Spurs. So five games without Ariza — even if the team loses all of them — won't hurt them much in the standings at this point in the season.
But the Rockets will need Ariza healthy for the playoffs. So a five-game stretch without him now is OK for the time being, so long as Ariza does not have any setbacks in his recovery from the injury.
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