Injury has befallen the Rockets once again as they sit in the middle of the Western Conference standings 22 games into the season. Christian Wood, the Rockets Center, appeared to roll his right ankle in a Thursday night game against the Memphis Grizzlies. At the 8:07 mark in the 3rd quarter as Wood was getting up for an easy bucket in transition, two Grizzlies defenders converged on him. He was ultimately fouled by Ja Morant and landed awkwardly on his ankle. He folded to the floor in pain and remained there for some time. Wood tried to shoot free throws, but his teammates encouraged him to head back to the locker room and assisted him off the court.
Unfortunately, the ankle that he injured in the game was the same ankle that kept him from playing in 3 games earlier in January. Wood left the game in a wheelchair and the official diagnosis from Dr. Alfred A. Mansour of Memorial Hermann following an MRI is a right ankle sprain. His progress will be re-evaluated weekly.