Tari Eason rejoins Rockets after multi-game absence with ankle injury
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During the first two weeks of January, the Rockets went through a historically awful shooting stretch. Per ESPN, Houston’s 24.6% clip from 3-point range from Jan. 3 through Jan. 15 was the worst in NBA history by any team over a seven-game span (minimum of 200 attempts).
Not surprisingly, the Rockets won just two of those seven games, and injuries likely played a role.
But the good news is that reinforcements have arrived for the playing rotation. Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle injury recovery) returned last Friday versus Minnesota, while Tari Eason (right ankle sprain) resumed playing on Tuesday against San Antonio.
Eason and Finney-Smith each missed at least two games during the shooting downturn.
Eason, 24, rolled his ankle on Jan. 9 in Portland and hadn’t played since. For the 2025-26 season, the fourth-year LSU product ranks third in the NBA in 3-point shooting (46.9%) among qualified players.
Looks like Tari Eason is back tonight. He was moving pretty well during shootaround but Steven could be out awhile. https://t.co/7J14NXbBaO— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) January 20, 2026
Meanwhile, Finney-Smith shot a career-best 41.1% from 3-point range last season. He’s played only sparingly this season after undergoing ankle surgery last offseason, and head coach Ime Udoka said that one of the two games he missed (Jan. 13 versus Chicago and Jan. 15 versus Oklahoma City) was because Finney-Smith isn’t yet cleared to play on both ends of back-to-backs.
Finney-Smith played a night later in the Jan. 16 win over the Timberwolves, and the Rockets are 2-0 since his return.
As the 32-year-old improves his conditioning, the team’s hope is that he’ll eventually revert back to something closer to last season’s shooting numbers.
DFS drives for the and-1️⃣! pic.twitter.com/AGuGYfy3N4— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) January 19, 2026
Beyond shooting, both Eason and Finney-Smith are long and versatile defenders, as well. Those traits are always valued by Rockets head coach Ime Udoka.
Tuesday’s Rockets-Spurs tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. Central from Toyota Center, where Houston is 14-3 this season. The game (box score) is being televised on both NBC and Space City Home Network.
The Rockets (25-15, No. 5 in West) and Spurs (30-13, No. 2) remain in a close seeding battle in the Western Conference standings, as has been the case for most of this season.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Tari Eason rejoins Rockets after multi-game absence with ankle injury
