Marcus Smart out again as Rockets chase 5-0 start

Will Guillory had the news a few hours before tip, and it's the same answer Rockets fans have gotten all week.

Will Guillory

@WillGuillory

Marcus Smart has been ruled out for tonight's game. It'll be the third straight game he's missed with a forearm strain.

This didn't start as a long one. Smart's left forearm strain first knocked him out of Monday's game against Atlanta, when the Rockets moved him from questionable to out the afternoon of the game. Ime Udoka called him day-to-day, game-to-game, and said there was a chance Smart would be back for the next one. That didn't happen, and it isn't happening tonight either.

The bigger problem is that Smart isn't the only one out. Houston's injury report for the Milwaukee trip had Alperen Sengun out with low back soreness and Steven Adams out with a right soleus strain. Adams is looking at a 1-2 week absence after he tried to come back against the Spurs and aggravated the injury mid-game, which sent him for imaging. So the Rockets are down their starting center, their backup center and the guard who sets the tone on defense.

So far they've been fine without everybody. Houston beat the Hawks 120-110 on Monday with Smart in street clothes and Sengun dropping 29, which got them to 4-0. Udoka said after that game he was 'very comfortable going small' with Adams out and that Clint Capela will get a look. Going small is a lot harder when Sengun is also out and the guy you'd want switching onto everybody in a small lineup is Smart.

That's why this one stings more than a normal forearm tweak. Smart's whole value is defense, loose balls and attitude, and a short-handed, small lineup needs those more than anybody. Without him and both bigs, the guards and wings have to win the possession battle with effort alone, against a Milwaukee team that will happily attack the paint.

Next up is whether Houston can get to 5-0 with this lineup, and whether 'day-to-day' turns into something longer for Smart. A forearm strain on a 3rd straight game isn't a disaster yet, but the Rockets kept saying he was close and he keeps getting ruled out. Watch the next injury report. With Adams gone for at least another week, Houston needs Smart and Sengun back before the depth runs out completely.