After month-long injury absence, Tari Eason rejoins Rockets’ rotation

For the first time in more than a month, reserve forward Tari Eason played for the Houston Rockets in Thursday’s road game versus the Sacramento Kings. In pregame comments, head coach Ime Udoka indicated that Eason would initially be limited to about 20 to 25 minutes of playing time.

“He felt better over the last few days,” Udoka said pregame.

Playing on night two of a road back-to-back, the Rockets were without veteran guard Fred VanVleet (personal reasons) against the Kings. With that in mind, Eason’s return came at a useful time.

Prior to Thursday, Eason’s last on-court appearance came on Dec. 14. The 2022 first-round draft pick then missed 13 consecutive games, with the team citing soreness in the same area of his lower left leg that required surgery last March.

The Rockets (27-12) insisted that the pain in Eason’s leg was subsiding, but they wanted it to go away entirely before allowing him to play — especially with the somewhat reduced stakes of midseason games and the team already winning at a high clip. In comments to reporters, Udoka suggested on multiple occasions that the thought process could perhaps be different, if the games were later in the season or in the playoffs (and thus of greater individual importance).

Earlier this month, Udoka said imaging tests on Eason’s leg were already done in December, and those did not appear to show a similar situation to the issue last season (which ultimately led to season ending surgery).

This season, Eason is averaging 11.3 points (47.5% FG, 31.5% on 3-pointers), 6.3 rebounds, and 1.9 steals in 22.8 minutes per game. A two-way force when healthy, the LSU product is often dynamic on the defensive end of the court — where Houston ranks No. 3 in the NBA — and in transition.

More: Ten-plus games later, Rockets still awaiting Tari Eason’s injury return

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: After month-long injury absence, Tari Eason rejoins Rockets’ rotation