After securing a victory Monday without three of their key players, the Houston Rockets are expected to get back both James Harden and Clint Capela for Wednesday’s contest against the Portland Trail Blazers.
NBA source: James Harden and Clint Capela expected to play tonight.
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 29, 2020
Harden had missed the team’s two previous outings due to a thigh injury, ceding way in the offense to a large collaboration of scorers. Capela missed Monday’s game due to persistent heel issues and saw P.J. Tucker and Danuel House do the vast majority of work on the glass.
The 2019-20 season has proven to be Harden’s own personal proving ground for his epic scoring abilities. After leading the league at 36.1 points per game last year, The Beard is right back at that mark again this campaign — after having seen that number dip considerably over the past few weeks.
Capela has been a machine on the boards in his sixth professional season, on pace to set a new career high with 13.9 rebounds per contest. He ranks fourth in the league with that mark and has proven to be integral for the Rockets, even as the team has gone 7-1 this year without him in the mix.
In addition to James Harden and Clint Capela, Russell Westbrook will be back in action Wednesday after sitting out Monday’s game due to rest purposes. The team has been cautious with playing the 31-year-old Westbrook on both ends of back-to-backs.
Eric Gordon went for a career-high 50 points his last time out, but he is likely to reprise his former role as a spot-up shooter along the wing, catching and shooting off dishes from Harden and Westbrook.
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