The Houston Rockets expect to be without All-Star center Alperen ΕengΓΌn for up to two weeks.
ΕengΓΌn went down with a right ankle injury very early in the teamβs 110-104 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. While he doesnβt have a specific timeline for his return β the team is planning to evaluate ΕengΓΌn again in the coming days β head coach Ime Udoka confirmed Monday that ΕengΓΌn will likely miss up to two weeks.
βWeβll evaluate him at the end of the week,β Udoka said, via Sports Illustratedβs Lachard Binkley. βNeed to get the swelling, the pain tolerance down and mobility, but youβre looking at a probably 10-14 days type thing.β
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Roughly a minute into the game Saturday at the American Airlines Center, ΕengΓΌn went up to try to fight for a defensive rebound against Mavericks center Daniel Gafford. As ΕengΓΌn came down, his right ankle rolled hard. That sent him crashing to the court, where he remained until play stopped at the other end.
ΕengΓΌn eventually limped off the court and was quickly ruled out of the game.
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He is in the middle of a career season with the Rockets. The 23-year-old, who made his first All-Star Game last year, has put up a career-high 21.8 points this season while averaging 9 rebounds and 6.5 assists.
While this will interrupt his dominant start to the season, and ΕengΓΌn has a history of ankle injuries, the timeline this time seems relatively minor. If ΕengΓΌn is out the full two weeks, he’d be back in time for the teamβs matchup with the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 20, meaning he would miss eight games.
The Rockets enter Monday nightβs contest against the Phoenix Suns with a 21-11 record, which has them fifth in the Western Conference standings. Saturdayβs loss to the Mavericks snapped a four-game winning streak.