Rockets' Christian Wood hoping to return before All-Star break

Rockets starting center Christian Wood is striving to return from his right ankle injury to the court before the All-Star Game, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. “I want to come back before All-Star break,” Wood said. “If I had to give you a percentage of where my ankle is, I’d probably tell you 80 percent.”

Wood, in the midst of a career season during his first year with Houston, has been trying to think positively about the injury. “It was definitely hard to deal with at first,” Wood said of the ankle. “But then when I found out the news wasn’t as bad as it seemed, I was grateful and thankful that it could have been worse.”

There’s more out of Houston:

• Newly added Rockets two-way center Justin Patton is hoping to stick with Houston, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. “That’s the sole reason for what I’m doing,” Patton says. “Every single day I’m working with a chip on my shoulder, proving a point, just as everybody else on our team right now.” Numerous foot injuries have limited Patton to just nine NBA appearances since he was drafted with the No. 16 pick out of Creighton in the 2017 draft. He has exhibited flashes of promise, however, at the G League level.
• The Rockets have struggled to build chemistry through a flurry of 16 shifting starting lineups, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. “Perfect example today in practice, Eric (Gordon) and Tuck (P.J. Tucker) have this like language that they speak to each other that makes sense to them,” head coach Stephen Silas said. “We as a group don’t have any of that. … You see teams that have been together a long time and have had steady lineups throughout the season are at the top of the league.”
• Since the Rockets had their weekend slate of games canceled because of ongoing weather problems in Texas, they were able to have a three-practice “mini-camp,” as Feigen details. Head coach Stephen Silas is hopeful that the new-look team will be able to parlay these intense workouts into chemistry. “It feels great to really get down to the bare knuckles of offense and defense,” Silas said. “We broke down today and did some live two-on-two, which we haven’t been able to do all season.”