The Houston Rockets have won four consecutive games after dropping their first three of the season and things are looking up. The Rockets have been playing for the majority of this season without a true power forward as Donatas Motiejunas has yet to play in a game and Terrence Jones has been out but that may change as Jones has a chance to return on Wednesday, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN.
Jones has missed the team's last five games after suffering a cut above his eye against the Golden State Warriors on October 30th. Jones' eye swelled up to the point that it was shut and he couldn't see. He also had irritation around the eye from stitches that he required so he had to get some of those stitches removed to stop the irritation.
Jones will be evaluated on Monday to determine whether he could practice this week and potentially return to the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Brooklyn Nets. Jones is averaging just 9.5 points in his two games played this season while making just 40 percent of his field goal attempts but he has turned into a really good player for the Rockets and they would love to have him back.
In Jones' absence the Rockets have decided to play small and insert shooting guard Marcus Thornton into the lineup instead of playing with a traditional lineup of having two big men on the floor. Thornton has played well in his five starts as he is averaging 16.6 points per game while making 41 percent of his three pointers.
The only healthy power forward the Rockets have had on their roster is Montrezl Harrell and while he has played well so far he is only averaging 10.9 minutes per game. With Motiejunas still not all that close to a return the Rockets really need Jones back even though the small lineup with Thornton starting has been successful so far.
In other news Patrick Beverley is also expected to return to practice after missing the Rockets last two games. Beverley is the Rockets backup point guard but didn't play in the last two games after getting hit in the ear last Wednesday. With Beverley out the Rockets have been using Jason Terry as the backup point guard.
After an extremely sluggish start to the season the Rockets seem to have found their way and the news looks like it will only get better as their players are on the mend. Jones and Beverley look very close to a return and Dwight Howard continues to look healthier every game.
