Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. suffers injury in practice

The 6-foot-11 big is expected to be sidelined for four to eight weeks, Charania reports. Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle tweets, however, that the ailment could keep him on the shelf for four to six weeks.

This year with Houston, the 21-year-old is averaging 11.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 blocks across 33 contests, all starts. He’s logging .435/.354/.867 shooting splits.

Lerner reports that Smith will have to undergo surgery to address the break in his non-shooting hand. The timing of that procedure hinges on the club getting another opinion on the ailment, which will help Houston determine the extent of the ailment.

With Smith sidelined during a critical part of the 2024/25 season, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka may look to replace the Auburn product with a defensive-oriented reserve forward like Tari Eason or Amen Thompson.

At 22-11 on the year, the Rockets currently occupy the Western Conference’s No. 3 overall seed and are just 0.5 games behind the second-seeded Grizzlies.