The Houston Rockets have weathered injuries all season, but losing Steven Adams for the remainder of the year represents one of the most significant setbacks yet for a team firmly entrenched in the Western Conference race.
Adams has undergone season-ending surgery on his left ankle, a development first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania and later confirmed by the team and Adams himself. The injury occurred Jan. 18 in a win over the New Orleans Pelicans, when Adams slid over to help defend Zion Williamson at the rim, jumped to contest a shot and immediately grabbed his ankle upon landing.
Houston had already been operating without starting point guard Fred VanVleet, yet the Rockets still climbed into the West’s top four and sit at 28–16, just two games out of the No. 2 seed. Adams’ absence, however, removes one of the structural pillars behind that success.
(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
Steven Adams Fueled Houston Rockets Doing the Dirty Work
While Adams’ box score production was modest — 5.8 points and 8.6 rebounds in 22.8 minutes per game — his value to Houston went far beyond traditional scoring metrics.
The Rockets lead the NBA in rebounding at 49.0 per game, and Adams has been central to that identity. He averaged 4.5 offensive rebounds per contest, anchoring a Houston offense that collects a league-leading 40.6 percent of its own missed shots. Those extra possessions helped propel the Rockets to the fourth-best offense in the NBA, despite ranking just 17th in true shooting percentage.
Houston posted a +11.2 net rating with Adams on the floor this season, underscoring how his screening, physicality and second-chance creation shaped winning lineups. Since Adams went down with the ankle injury, that edge has noticeably slipped. In the four games without him, the Rockets’ offensive rebounding rate has fallen to 35 percent, and their offense has ranked 16th over that stretch.
Adams was diagnosed with a Grade 3 ankle sprain, and surgery was viewed internally as a real possibility, even as Houston initially held out hope for a return.
Frontcourt Adjustments Loom as Trade Deadline Nears
With Adams sidelined, Houston will need to reconfigure its frontcourt rotation on the fly. Clint Capela has taken over as the primary backup center behind Alperen Şengün, and coach Ime Udoka is expected to lean more heavily on small-ball alignments that feature Jabari Smith Jr. at the five.
Still, replacing Adams’ elite offensive rebounding and physical interior presence is not a simple schematic fix. With the trade deadline approaching, the Rockets are expected to at least explore the center market as they evaluate whether an external move is necessary to preserve their momentum.
Houston has already proven its resilience, playing its way into the West’s upper tier despite significant absences. Losing Adams, however, removes one of the league’s most effective possession-generators — a blow that could test just how sustainable the Rockets’ rise truly is over the final stretch of the season.
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