On Monday November 2nd, the Houston Rockets (6-1) are hosting the Boston Celtics (5-1) in a battle between two of the best teams in each conference. Ime Udoka and his team have managed to be victorious with a number of different lineups out there already, and tonight will be no different. They could be without both backup centers, as well as Reed Sheppard. 

With Boston on the second night of a back-to-back, so they don’t have to submit their official injury report until after noon on game-day, but they only had two players sitting out today. Mitchell Robinson was resting and Devin Carter was sick, so they could both easily play in Houston. 

When: Monday, November 2nd @ 7:30 PM CT 

Where: Toyota Center in Houston, Texas 

Where to watch: Local Broadcasting, NBA League Pass 

Out: Quadir Copeland (G), G-League assignment. 

Out: Julian Phillips (F), G-League assignment. 

Out: Steven Adams (C), right soleus strain. Hasn't played since the October 23 win over San Antonio.

Questionable: Clint Capela (C), right ankle sprain. Played 10 minutes in the game on Halloween.

Questionable: Reed Sheppard (G), low back strain. Upgraded from out to questionable.

Available: Fred VanVleet (G), right knee injury management. Missed the second night of a back-to-back on Halloween.

Out: Devin Carter (G), illness. Did not play in Sunday’s game.  

Out: Mitchell Robinson (C), rested in Sunday’s game. 

The Celtics have had a run of relatively clean injury reports in recent days, but anything can change in the next 24 hours. As of now, I’d expect them to be almost fully healthy as they travel to Houston. 

They’re making sure of that by resting Mitchell Robinson for the first time of the year after he played in Boston’s first five games. Plus, they already finished their matchup against the Orlando Magic and I didn’t see anyone leave the court with an injury. 

With the possibility of Houston having to play Monday night’s contest without the help of either backup center, Boston’s front line certainly looks even more imposing. There’s a reason why Oscar Tshiebwe hasn’t been assigned to the G-League like Phillips and Copeland have. 

Similarly to Boston though, anything can change for the Rockets before tip-off tomorrow. Hopefully that means we can get to see Steven Adams on the court for the first time in ten days. 

I’d love to see Capela unbothered by rolling his ankle, as well as Sheppard getting back on the court too. Even if none of those guys play, we will see Fred VanVleet back out there after resting on the back-to-back this past weekend. 

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