On Saturday, coach Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets announced that second-unit power forward Tari Eason is expected to miss the next four to six weeks due to an oblique injury early in Friday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers. 

Eason collided with Jrue Holiday after around ten minutes of play time and was immediately taken to the locker room for review. Eason absence is going to change a lot more than people probably realise. He’s one of the vital pieces that keep Udoka’s machine running smoothly. 

Houston survived Orlando without Eason on Sunday, but just barely (117-113). His absence was felt for the first time when the Rockets faced off against the Magic at home in an insane nailbiter that spilled into overtime. Without Eason’s cutting and board crashing, Houston struggled to find looks, especially in the first half, shooting at just 38.6-percent from the field. In the four games prior to Wednesday night, Eason contributed 11 made threes and was averaging about five attempts per game from deep, shooting at over 50-percent.

The Rockets also pulled down just 7 of 25 potential offensive rebounds before halftime, an area where Eason usually makes a huge impact. According to stats from Cleaning the Glass, the Rockets retain nearly 40-percent of offensive rebounds when Eason is on the floor, while opponents rarely earn second looks. Eason averages five rebounds per game this season.

So far this year, Houston has thrived off of their bench, most impactfully through the dynamic Reed Sheppard-Tari Eason duo. When these two share the floor, the energy isn’t only maintained while the big guys rest- it explodes. The pace ramps up, the ball moves faster, the pressure increases, and it starts raining threes. 

Sheppard and Eason have built undeniable chemistry over the last couple of weeks. Now, without his second-unit counterpart, Sheppard will be taking on even more responsibility. He played for nearly 30 minutes on Saturday, as the Rockets leaned on his spacing and ball movement without Eason there to create chaos and extra possessions. 

Houston will look to Amen Thompson to fill the rebounding gap and run the fastbreaks that Eason is normally there to ignite, while Aaron Holiday will likely help fill minutes, but unfortunately for the Rockets, there is no perfect replacement for Eason. And Udoka is going to have to get creative for the next few weeks.