Houston Rockets star James Harden and newly acquired guard Iman Shumpert are questionable to play in the team’s home game against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
James Harden and Iman Shumpert listed as questionable for #Rockets game with the Hawks tomorrow night at Toyota Center.
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) February 24, 2019
Harden has missed the Rockets’ game against the Golden State Warriors last night because of a cervical strain he suffered in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers last Thursday. He’s listed as day-to-day but not expected to miss a significant amount of time.
Shumpert, a player that the Rockets got in a trade with the Sacramento Kings, is currently nursing a sore right knee and is also not expected to miss a lot of games.
It is possible that the Rockets are taking extra precaution towards the injuries to their players, especially Harden, who is one of the candidates to win this year’s league MVP award. The All-Star guard is currently averaging 36.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game this season. Losing him to a major injury would be catastrophic for Houston’s championship aspirations so they are taking all the necessary actions to make sure that he’s 100 percent healthy when he steps back into the court.
As for Shumpert, in three games for Houston, he is putting up 4.0, 2.3 boards and 1.7 assists points while shooting 23.5 percent from the field. Once healthy, he is expected to play an integral role with the Rockets’ offense that’s mainly focused on 3-point shooting.
The Rockets are currently fifth in the Western Conference standings with a 34-25 record. The team still has 23 games left to try to climb a notch or two in order to gain homecourt advantage at least in the first round of the playoffs.
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