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Patrick Beverley to miss 10-14 days with rib injury, Lin to start

The Rockets took their first hit of the season as it was announced that Patrick Beverley will miss 10-14 days after partially tearing a muscle in his midsection.

By Patrick Harrel
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

They never said it was going to be easy. Just three days into the season, and the Rockets are already hurting, as Patrick Beverley has gone down with a partial tear of his midsection, an injury that will hold him out for 10-14 days. Beverley was injured in Wednesday's season opener, but expected to be back for this weekend's slate of games, but this discovery is obviously a setback that will force him out.

In his absence, Jeremy Lin will take over the starting duties and Aaron Brooks will move into the rotation, and you can expect a much more traditional point guard rotation than the one we were expecting to see this season. Instead of three guards sharing minutes relatively equally at the one and two, expect Lin and Harden to carry a heavy load at both of their positions, with Garcia and Brooks filling in whatever minutes remain.

Some will say that this injury means little as the Rockets have the depth to handle it, but they are kidding themselves. Beverley gave the Rockets a defensive weapon at the point guard spot, and though the Rockets will be fine offensively, the downgrade from Beverley to Aaron Brooks will really hurt them. In the next 10 days, the Rockets have two games against Chris Paul and the Clippers and one against Damian Lillard and the Blazers. Those two games against the Clippers are going to be crucial for playoff seeding, and with Chris Paul busting heads in the early season, it sure would've been nice to have Beverley to step in and slow him down.

A lot will be riding on the shoulders of Jeremy Lin and Aaron Brooks. Let's hope they're up to the task.

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