Sam Dekker Fractures Hand in Collision, Will See Specialist About Injury

Sam Dekker's injury-plagued NBA career took another hit Sunday, as the Houston Rockets forward suffered a fractured left hand Sunday during his team's 123-116 victory over the Phoenix Suns, per Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston.

Berman noted Dekker will see a specialist Monday.

While Dekker's rookie year didn't go according to plan, he was averaging 6.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game this season coming into Sunday's contest.

After a great collegiate career at Wisconsin, Dekker was selected with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Rockets, but he played only six minutes in his first season before November back surgery put him on the shelf for several months.

He returned to action later in the season but was sent down to the NBA Development League to play for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The 6'9" forward showed flashes of competence in seven D-League games, as he averaged 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per contest.

His role with the Rockets has been far more pronounced in 2016-17, and he has emerged as one of the team's primary backups at both small forward and power forward.

With Dekker out, Trevor Ariza and Ryan Anderson will likely be forced to play additional minutes, while Montrezl Harrell could see the floor more often as well.

There will also be even more emphasis on Houston's impressive guard trio of James Harden, Eric Gordon and Lou Williams to shoulder the scoring load.

Dekker's size and shooting ability make him a potential matchup problem for almost every NBA team, and not having the threat of putting him on the floor will be inconvenient for the Rockets.