Missile star guard Russell Westbrook is expected to miss at least the start of the Houston first-round playoff series due to a strained right quad muscle, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Westbrook’s return will depend on how he responds to treatment, sources told ESPN. The Westbrook state news was first reported Thursday by the Houston Chronicle.
Rockets manager Mike D’Antoni told reporters Wednesday that Westbrook’s availability for the start of the postseason was uncertain.
“We’ll see how he responds and everything, but let’s all hope,” D’Antoni said. “We’ll only see next week. I don’t know now.”
Houston is poised to take on former Westbrook team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the first round.
Westbrook, who arrived late at the NBA’s Walt Disney World Resort campus because he tested positive for COVID-19, first felt pain in his right quadriceps after the Rockets’ defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers on August 4. the next two games due to a right quad bruise, according to the team.
He played 28 minutes in the Houston defeat to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, scoring 20 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. D’Antoni said Wednesday that he didn’t think Westbrook had compounded the injury.
Westbrook missed Wednesday’s defeat to the Indiana Pacers and was previously excluded for Friday’s seed final against the Philadelphia 76ers.
A nine-time All-Star acquired in a successful trade with the Thunder last summer, Westbrook averaged 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game in his first season with the Rockets.
Information from ESPN’s Tim MacMahon was used in this report.
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