Three Starters Added to the Injury List Before Thursday's…

By the Rockets Nightly Desk · Monday, October 12

The Rockets split their two preseason meetings with Dallas, taking the opener 135-117 before dropping the rematch 115-132 as the bench was outscored 70-45 by the starters. By Saturday, three rotation regulars had joined Kevin Durant on the injury report, all four tagged for the same return date.

Rockets Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Oct. 9

Houston opened the preseason series against Dallas with a 135-117 win, the first of two meetings before the regular-season opener. That result put the season series at 1-0 for the Rockets, a lead that lasted exactly two days.

Oct. 11

Dallas evened the series, 132-115, as Houston's starters outscored the bench 70-45 but could not close the gap. Marcus Smart led with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, Reed Sheppard added 17 on 4-of-10 from three, and Amen Thompson posted 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in 30 minutes.

Later that day

Alperen Sengun, Steven Adams and Fred VanVleet were each tagged day-to-day for rest, joining Kevin Durant, whose own non-injury day-to-day tag has stood since Oct. 9 with no further detail reported. All four carry the same target return date: Oct. 15.

This week

The Rockets host the Thunder on Thursday, Oct. 15, in their third and final tune-up before the Oct. 21 regular-season opener against the Mavericks — their fourth look at Dallas in under two weeks. Whether Sengun, Adams, VanVleet and Durant are available for either date is still unanswered.

Next The Rockets host Oklahoma City on Thursday, Oct. 15, before the regular-season opener against Dallas on Oct. 21.

Why did the Rockets lose to the Mavericks on Oct. 11?

Houston's bench was outscored 70-45 by the starters and could not match Dallas's balanced scoring, falling 115-132 after winning the preseason opener 135-117.

Which Rockets are injured heading into the Thunder game?

Alperen Sengun, Steven Adams and Fred VanVleet were added to the injury report on Oct. 11, joining Kevin Durant's day-to-day tag from Oct. 9; all four are listed with an Oct. 15 target.

By the Rockets Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.