Over the last three weeks, the only glimpse the media has gotten of Houston Rockets point guard Kevin Porter Jr. was in passing.
Either before or after practice or games, the only thing said to him was pleasantries as he made his way to and from the court. Porter has been out of the rotation since Jan. 11 with a left toe contusion he suffered against the Sacramento Kings.
In the first quarter of the game, he collided with teammate Jae’Sean Tate after he was pushed into Porter by Kings guard Malik Monk. He wore a boot on the foot until last week and has finally been cleared to do small, non-contact basketball activities.
“It’s just irritated. It’s something to do with my joint, but it’ll be fine,” Porter said after practice on Tuesday. “I have just been rehabbing and treating it well.”
“We’ve just been taking it a day at a time, really. You know, I sometimes shoot in my free time. I dribble the ball all day every day when I’m at home, and I do those little things, but as far as participating, everything like that, we’re taking it a day at a time.”
Before his injury, Porter played very well and had started to find his stride in the Rockets’ offense. In his last ten games, he averaged 22.7 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game.
“I try not to get too low or high with things. When it happened, I just stayed poise, and attacking it how I can and controlling what I can has been keeping me in the right head space.”
Porter has not dealt with an injury that has kept him out of the game since he suffered a bruised thigh last season that sidelined him for a significant amount of time. This time, his mindset was the same, as he did not think he would be out of the lineup for as long as he had.
“No,” said Porter when asked if he thought his injury would sideline him for a substantial amount of time. “For any injury I have suffered, I felt like I could bounce back. My body is usually good at bouncing back. So, definitely, I thought I was going to be back faster.”
As the Rockets prepare to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, they will be without the services of Porter and shooting guard Jalen Green who suffered a bruised right calf against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the last homestand.
