:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67307485/1228218680.jpg.0.jpg)
The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder will continue their First Round series on Saturday, according to reports.
Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle reported on Thursday night that the Rockets and Thunder will play Game 5 on Saturday per their sources.
NBA schedule, Rockets-Thunder series to resume on Saturday, source said. https://t.co/jp1A9htlRL
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) August 28, 2020
The decision to return to play on Saturday comes not even 36 hours after the Milwaukee Bucks held a strike against their Game 5 matchup on Wednesday with the Orlando Magic in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake. The Rockets and Thunder followed suit with their matchup being the next after Bucks-Magic on the docket.
If the report is accurate, the Rockets got a much-needed four-day break to regroup after falling down to 2-2 against the Thunder in back-to-back meltdown losses.
The time off due to strike also gives Russell Westbrook even more time to recover from injury. On Wednesday, Westbrook was upgraded from “out” to “questionable” for the first time since they faced the San Antonio Spurs earlier this month. Westbrook was set to “test” his quad injury before Game 5, and they would determine if he would play from there.
Russell Westbrook has been upgraded to questionable for tonight’s game vs. OKC
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) August 26, 2020
He’ll test his quad in warm-ups and then make a game-time decision, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/AelXphZ9Hc
According to the aforementioned report, the Rockets held practice on Thursday with Westbrook participating. The Rockets will also practice on Friday, but there currently is no word on if Westbrook will be participating again.
Update:
Houston Rockets play at 5:30 Central on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/JDwSNlg7RN
— #PocketRockets (@DreamShakeSBN) August 28, 2020