Houston Rockets Roster News: Trevor Ariza Back in Lineup After Back Injury
Trevor Ariza of the Houston Rockets suffered a back injury in last week's game against the Brooklyn Nets; which eventually caused him to miss the following game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Good news for Rockets fans, though, the small forward was able to return to action last Saturday in his team's rousing 126-97 victory against the lowly Los Angeles Lakers.
Before the game, interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff talked to the media about Ariza's availability, saying that he expected his starter to come out and play. Although he only managed five points in his first game back, he actually didn't have to do a lot with Houston conveniently romping over the Lakers. He finished the game 1 for 7 from the court with one three point shot.
When he went down in Brooklyn game, it was the first time in 172 games that the forward missed a game. That streak of playing consecutive games was one of the longest active streaks in the NBA.
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Perhaps one good reason why Ariza opted to play against the Lakers was to give him the responsibility of guarding Lakers star, Kobe Bryant. But the team is expected to limit his minutes on the floor as he still recovers from the back pain caused by the injury.
Coach Bickerstaff talked about the positive stubbornness of his designated wing defender. "As I've said before, if there's one person who would play, it's Trevor. You have a hard time keeping him out… no matter what the situation is, he wants to help the team," he said.
Aside from Ariza, newly acquired point guard Ty Lawson also came into the game questionable because he had prior flu-like symptoms. However, he did saw action in the Rockets win against Los Angeles, the second worst team in the league right now. And no, we're not talking about the Clippers.
