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Report: Rockets' Kevin Porter Jr., Christian Wood Suspended for Behavior vs. Nuggets
January 3, 2022
The Houston Rockets have suspended both Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood for Monday's road game against the Philadelphia 76ers, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon.
The discipline comes in response to their "poor behavior" in Saturday's loss to the Denver Nuggets.
According to Shams Charania and Kelly Iko of The Athletic, Porter left the arena after a halftime altercation with assistant coach John Lucas. The guard also reportedly threw an object at Lucas and had to be separated from him before leaving.
Wood was benched to start the action after missing a COVID-19 testing window and then refused to sub into the game in the second half.
The Rockets trailed 77-55 at halftime in what became a 124-111 defeat. It was the team's seventh straight loss, dropping the squad to 10-27 for the worst record in the Western Conference.
Wood had zero points in eight minutes of Saturday's game, while Porter had eight points in 16 minutes.
Despite his performance Saturday, Wood remains the Rockets' most productive player with averages of 16.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Porter has started every game he has played this year, averaging 12.8 points and a team-high 5.7 assists per game.
With the two unavailable on Monday, there will be even more pressure on rookie Jalen Green to pick up the slack offensively.
The incident could also lead to question marks about Porter's future with the team after off-court issues ended his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the player had a screaming match with team officials after his locker was moved in January 2021. He was traded to the Rockets later that month.
The situation is yet another challenge for second-year head coach Stephen Silas.