One of the most exciting series of the first round of the NBA playoffs will be without a key character to start, as Rockets guard Russell Westbrook will reportedly miss at least the first couple games team’s series against his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Westbrook has already been ruled out of Houston’s closing seeding-round game on Friday with a strained quad.
Now, Feigen reports, “Though the Rockets could only put a timetable on when they will next evaluate Russell Westbrook’s strained quadriceps muscle, the expectation is that he will be out for the first few games of next week’s playoff series and possibly longer, a person with knowledge of the team’s thinking said on Thursday.”
An MRI revealed that Westbrook’s injury was more serious than anticipated, after Westbrook himself said he would be ready to play Friday and practice over the weekend in anticipation of the first game of the series next week. The Rockets are set to play a surprising Thunder team in the first round after locking in the fourth seed.
That series is full of subplots, not the least of which is Westbrook facing the team for which he played during the first 12 years of his career. Not only will that story be absent if Westbrook is forced to miss extended time, but a series that was already likely to be quite competitive takes on even more of a focus in the Western Conference if the Rockets are without their No. 2 option.