Rockets bench players who must step up in Eric Gordon’s absence

With the loss of Eric Gordon, the Houston Rockets must look to certain bench players to step into a bigger role. Who are these players? Let’s look.

The Houston Rockets will be without guard Eric Gordon, who suffered an ankle injury in the team’s final scrimmage on Tuesday, for at least the next two weeks. Although Gordon certainly was not having his best season, as his 3-point shooting is down and he has struggled to stay healthy, this is still a big blow for the Rockets since Gordon is the team’s third-leading scorer, averaging 14.5 points per game, and a key defender in Houston’s small-ball approach.

Coach Mike D’Antoni had started Gordon in all three of Houston’s scrimmages and was most likely going to be the Rockets fifth starter once actual games resumed. Danuel House will take over as the Rockets fifth starter, which should not be a big adjustment since House has started 47 games this year for the Rockets, but the big issue is what happens to the 25 plus minutes House was expected to play off the bench.

The most likely scenario is that D’Antoni distributes these extra minutes to a few key bench players rather than adding another player into the Rockets rotation. But this leads to the question of which of Houston’s bench players will take on additional minutes and be asked to play a bigger role for the team.

In all likelihood, the Rockets will look to three specific bench players, who all fit in with Houston’s small-ball approach, to step up in Gordon’s absence and take on a bigger role both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Who are these players? Let’s look.