With Aaron Brooks out of action the Rockets need 24-year old point guard Kyle Lowry to step up his game. Lowry has played in 12 games (8 starts) so far this year for the Rockets and he is averaging 32.3 minutes, 8.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He is only shooting 36.8% from the floor and he is 6 of 25 (24%) from three point range so far this year. The Rockets need Lowry to start shooting better and they need him to score more points while Brooks is out of action.

With Aaron Brooks and Yao Ming out of action, the Rockets needed someone to step up on offense and 27-year old shooting guard Kevin Martin is answering that call.  Martin has played in 11 games (all starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 32.9 minutes, 23.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.  Martin has got a smooth stroke from the outside and he doesn’t mind driving to the basket either so I won’t be surprised at all if he leads the Rockets in scoring this year.

22-year old, undrafted rookie point guard Ishmael Smith is making the most of the playing time he’s getting early this year.  He has played in 9 games (3 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 19.0 minutes, 5.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  He is 3 of 5 (60%) shooting from three point range but he’s only hitting 36.5% overall from the floor and that needs to improve.  I look for Smith to keep getting solid P.T. until Aaron Brooks returns from injury.

Brad Miller, Jordan Hill and Chuck Hayes all share the minutes at center when Yao’s not playing so look for them to have expanded roles for the next week. Miller has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 13.7 minutes, 4.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Jordan Hill has the highest upside of this bunch. He has played in 8 games (1 start) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 18.0 minutes, 5.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Chuck Hayes is a undersized fighter under the basket. He has played in 7 games (1 start) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 21.0 minutes, 5.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. I have a feeling that Miller, Hill & Hayes will do a decent job of filling in until Yao is ready to return to action.

The Houston Rockets will be without starting center Yao Ming for the next week due to a strained tendon in his left leg. Yao has played in 5 games (all starts) so far this year and he is averaging 18.2 minutes, 10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Yao is being limited to 24 minutes per night and he isn’t playing in second end of back to back games. Still, he’s playing well in his limited minutes and the Rockets will take it easy with him with this injury.

UPDATE: (11/23/2010) - The Rockets are going to be without Yao for another two weeks as they are going to take it slow with him and that’s a smart move.

The Rockets have sent first round pick Patrick Patterson to the D-League to play for Rio Grande Valley. This is kind of a shock on the surface. But, the Rockets had not played Patterson in any games this year so this will give him a shot to get big minutes and improve his game. I think the Rockets will reward Patterson with a roster spot if he plays well in the D-League.

The Rockets will be without starting point guard Aaron Brooks for the next 4-6 weeks due to a high ankle sprain. Brooks has played in 5 games (all starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 29.6 minutes, 16.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. The Rockets hope that Kyle Lowry will be ready to return to action so that he can start at point guard until Brooks returns to action. Lowry has played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 20.5 minutes, 5.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. The Rockets are paying Lowry a lot of money as they matched a big offer from the Cavaliers over the summer, so they expect him to do a good job while Brooks is out of action. Undrafted rookie Ishmael Smith will also see some extended P.T. while Brooks is out. Smith has played in 4 games (1 start) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 22.3 minutes, 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Smith will need to improve his shooting (25% from the floor) if the Rockets are going to count on him.

The Rockets didn’t play any D once again last night and it cost them this game. Kevin Martin (18 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist) and Aaron Brooks (18 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal) led the way for the Rockets in this game. Yao was solid with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocked shots in only 21 minutes on the floor. Chase Budinger pitched in with 15 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists and 1 steal in 26 minutes off the bench. The Rockets are now 0-4 on the year.

30-year old power forward Luis Scola has been incredible for the Rockets so far this year. Scola has played in 3 games (all starts) for the Rockets so far this year and he is averaging 36.0 minutes, 27.3 points, 14.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. He is also shooting a scorching 56.9% from the floor as he has been unstoppable for the Rockets. The Rockets have a great inside-out game working with Kevin Martin & Aaron Brooks shooting from long range with Scola cleaning up in the paint.