Nene will miss the rest of the postseason for the Rockets after an adductor tear

The Houston Rockets announced that Nene will miss the rest of the postseason with a left adductor tear, a huge loss for a Rockets team that is not deep at center. Nene left Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs and received an MRI at a local hospital later that night, although the Rockets still won 125-104 without him.

In a press release, the Rockets said that the team’s medical staff is “reviewing treatment options,” likely meaning that they are weighing whether Nene will need surgery or not. Regardless, it’s a tough blow for Houston, who relied on Nene heavily this season. He played 67 games in the regular season, averaging nine points on 62 percent shooting.

In the playoffs, Nene was a huge reason for the Rockets’ five-game defeat of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He scored 15 points in Game 1 and recorded 28 points in Game 4 on 12-of-12 shooting. He finished the series averaging nearly 14 points on 85 percent shooting, along with 6.6 rebounds per game.

In Nene’s absence, the Rockets will rely heavily on Clint Capela, who has alternated between dominating opponents this postseason and, in a couple instances, being benched for poor play. Capela has two double-doubles already against San Antonio, but it’ll be even more important that he avoids foul trouble the rest of the series.

In Nene’s absence during Game 4, Mike D’Antoni turned to Ryan Anderson as a backup center, playing extremely small. (The move put James Harden as the team’s second post defender, matching up against Pau Gasol and LaMarcus Aldridge several times.) However, it’s possible that Nene’s injury will open the door for Montrezl Harrell, who played 58 regular season games with some success but hasn’t seen meaningful minutes this postseason.