In the NBA, there are scheduling losses, which Monday night’s 105-83 blowout to the Houston Rockets easily falls under. But the Sacramento Kings might want to pencil in Garrett Temple’s left hamstring strain under a similar heading - a scheduling injury.
“It wasn’t bothering me, I got a strip on James (Harden) and pushed off to grab it and felt it right away,” Temple told reporters following the game. “I knew it wasn’t a cramp, I knew what it was right away.”
Eight games in 12 nights on the road isn’t normal. The addition of the Philadelphia 76ers makeup game on Monday turned an already brutal stretch into something more dangerous for the Kings.
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The Houston game was a throw away long before the ball tipped off. The Kings, playing their third set of back-to-backs on the trip, didn’t even get into their hotel until 2:30 in the morning after playing the Sixers on Monday.
“It was already a long road trip, but to end with four-in-five, and then the back-to-back, having a three hour flight coming here, it is what it is, it happened,” Temple said. “I definitely don't think (the schedule) helped with my situation.”
Temple said he missed four weeks the last time he had a similar injury, although he was quick to point out that it was much worse the previous time. He also aggravated the pull on his first day back at practice, which elongated his return to the court.
Temple underwent an MRI in Sacramento on Wednesday afternoon and the test revealed that the guard suffered a partial tear of his hamstring. The team expects him to miss 2-3 weeks and he will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break.
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Temple, 30, signed a three-year deal with the Kings as an unrestricted free agent over the summer. He is averaging 7.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26.7 minutes per game for Sacramento and has become a defensive anchor for the club.