The Houston Rockets have dealt with the injury bug quite a bit this season.
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Star point guard Chris Paul missed 16 consecutive games with a hamstring injury earlier this season and center Clint Capela has been out of the lineup for the past 15 contests as he recovered from surgery on his right thumb. However, according to ESPN's Tim McMahon, Houston's star big man is returning to practice on Wednesday and as long as there's no setbacks, he plans to play against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET -- watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension).
Rockets center Clint Capela is returning to practice today after missing 15 games due to ligament damage in his right thumb. Barring a setback, he's expected to play Thursday against the Lakers.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 20, 2019
Prior to going down, Capela was second on the Rockets in scoring (17.6 points) while also securing 12.6 rebounds and blocking 1.8 shots per contest. His last game came on Jan. 13 when he scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 116-109 loss at the hands of the Orlando Magic.
In Capela's absence, James Harden has continued his historic stretch with at least 30 points in 31 consecutive games. Harden found himself in quite a few isolation scenarios and carried a large amount of the scoring load while Capela was out of the lineup.
Now with Capela returning, the Rockets will have a true post presence down low. The team did sign Kenneth Faried after the veteran big man was bought out by the Brooklyn Nets. Faried has filled in for Capela admirably as he's averaged 15.9 points in 12 games with the team.
