Patrick Beverley was thriving as a member of the Rockets this season, starting in 24 of his 25 appearances and providing an energetic spark on both ends of the floor that positively impacted his team’s lineup.
Beverley suffered a fractured hand injury in late December that was expected to sideline him for up to six weeks, but he appears on track to return as early as Monday against the Blazers.
From Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:Within a month of suffering a fractured hand, Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley will return to the lineup against Portland on Monday, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Beverley, who was injured on Dec. 23, has been practicing with the Rockets this week and the team trainers cleared him to return to the court on Monday, sources said.
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reported that Beverley went through shootaround Saturday and was optimistic about taking the floor against the Bucks, but later said that the guard’s status remained unchanged and that Monday was more likely.
As we noted at the time, the Rockets were well-equipped to handle the temporary loss of Beverley, thanks to guys like Jeremy Lin and Aaron Brooks who had proven capable of playing meaningful minutes alongside the ball-dominant James Harden. But the added depth will certainly help.
Beverley gained some notoriety during last year’s playoffs, when an aggressive defensive play resulted in Russell Westbrook suffering a torn lateral meniscus that required season-ending surgery. He’s averaged 9.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 31.5 minutes per game this season.
