Steven Adams Suffers Glute Injury in Preseason Opener vs. Rockets

Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams suffered an apparent glute injury in the third quarter of the team's preseason opener against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.

According to the Oklahoman's Brett Dawson, Adams "walked toward the bench grimacing and immediately left the floor for the locker room" after James Harden pulled him to the floor. Harden was assessed a flagrant-1 foul upon review.

After the game, Adams told reporters he didn't think the injury was particularly serious, as the Norman Transcript's Fred Katz documented:

Adams' career ascent continued last season. He averaged career highs in points (11.3), rebounds (7.7), assists (1.1) and steals (1.1) as the Thunder's starting center.

Durability has not been a problem for Adams throughout his NBA career. The 24-year-old has appeared in at least 80 games three times in the past four seasons, and his playing time has seen an increase as a result.

The Thunder have become more reliant on Adams in the post-Kevin Durant era. He finished second on the team in win shares (6.5), per Basketball Reference, trailing only Russell Westbrook.

The acquisitions of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony in the offseason give the Thunder two legitimate scoring options to put with Westbrook.

Oklahoma City's depth at center isn't as strong as it once was due to sending Enes Kanter to the New York Knicks in the Anthony trade, so the Thunder will hope Adams can make a recovery in time for their season opener Oct. 19 against Kanter's new club.