Danuel House, Clint Capela doubtful for Houston Rockets game vs Hawks

The Houston Rockets matchup against the Atlanta Hawks just got much more difficult. Here’s why the Rockets will be significantly compromised on Saturday night.

The Houston Rockets have already dealt with significant injuries through the team’s first 18 games, as they’ve been without Eric Gordon for nine games and expect to be without Gerald Green for the entire season. As if that weren’t bad enough, the Rockets have also been without Clint Capela for three games and Danuel House for four games, who are both starters that happen to be the team’s best shot-blockers.

Unfortunately, the Rockets will likely have to make do without the House and Capela tandem during Saturday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks, as both are doubtful with illness, as Rockets courtside reporter Cayleigh Griffin tweeted.

This means the Rockets will likely start Ben McLemore again, who has had an up-and-down season so far. McLemore has averaged 7.3 points per game while shooting 29.1 percent from downtown, which is a career-low. But, due to House being out for four games during the 2019-20 season, McLemore has been forced to start four games and has actually played well when in the starting role.

McLemore has averaged 15.8 points per game on 35.6 percent from deep in House’s absence, as the Rockets have actually gone 3-1 in those games.

The Rockets have also fared well in Capela’s absence, as they’ve gone 3-0 in the games he’s been unable to suit up as well, which isn’t surprising considering how the Rockets have Tyson Chandler and Isaiah Hartenstein to turn to in his absence. Not only that, but the Rockets will also likely give Gary Clark a healthy dosage of minutes on Saturday, as he was impressive in the Rockets’ last game against the Miami Heat.

In that game, Clark had eight rebounds, which tied his career-high, while also adding 12 points, which were his second-most points scored in the NBA. Another good thing about Clark is that his 6-foot-6 frame would allow the Rockets to play him at the small forward position or the power forward spot, so we can certainly bank on him to play quite a bit against Atlanta.

Clark has also drawn the praise of Rockets’ defensive ace P.J. Tucker as well.

PJ Tucker on Gary Clark: "I feel like Gary can be like me with the second unit when he comes in." #Rockets pic.twitter.com/BlKYpt645d

— Coty Davis (@CotyDavis_24) November 29, 2019

Although the Rockets will be without the services of House and Capela, they should be just fine as they’ve got good depth and have fared well without the two of them when forced to be.