Watch an NBA restart opening night doubleheader, featuring Jazz @ Pelicans and Clippers @ Lakers, live on Sky Sports Arena on Thursday from 10pm. First game tips off at 11:30pm.
Thursday 30 July 2020 10:46, UK
Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon will miss the NBA season's restart after being ruled out for approximately two weeks with an ankle injury.
Gordon, who comes off the bench for the Rockets, had to be helped off the court during Tuesday's scrimmage against the Boston Celtics after spraining his left ankle.
Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters that X-Rays on Gordon's ankle were negative, and that he would be out for a "a few days", but reports from ESPN and The Athletic have now confirmed the team expect his return to range from one to two weeks.
Gordon, who was the NBA's sixth man of the year in 2016-17 season, provides a crucial scoring option from Houston's bench.
The 31-year-old was averaging 14.5 points per game for the regular season, making him the team's third highest scorer, trailing only All-Star duo James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
Gordon had already missed 30 games this season with surgery on his right knee in November ruling him out before soreness in the same area caused a further absence before the league was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Rockets play their first game of the restart against the Dallas Mavericks in the early hours of Saturday morning, live on Sky Sports.
The Rockets are currently sixth in the Western Conference with a 40-24 record, but sit just 2.5 games back from the third-placed Denver Nuggets.
