Houston will be without Ray Spalding in the foreseeable future due to an Achilles tendon injury, which the third-year pivot suffered on Monday in Washington, during just his second game with the Rockets. The severity of the injury was not immediately disclosed and is pending further testing.
“The prognosis is not good,” said coach Stephen Silas after the game, adding that the final diagnosis would come on Tuesday.
Spalding had played with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers – an affiliate organization of the Houston NBA G League – for parts of the past two seasons. After playing well to start the 2020-21 campaign, he was drafted into the Rockets before Saturday’s game in New York.
It was a brutal moment for Spalding, who has not played in the NBA regular season since the 2018-19 season, his first as a professional. For the Rockets, it is the latest in a long series of unfortunate setbacks.
Christian Wood (right ankle sprain), Victor Oladipo (right foot strain), PJ Tucker (left thigh contusion) and Eric Gordon (right groin pain) are among the rotation regulars that are absent in the Rockets. Not by chance, Houston (11-16) has already lost six games in a row.