Shorthanded Houston Rockets prepare to open season against Portland Trail Blazers

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The Houston Rockets are set to open their season against the Portland Trail Blazers after their scheduled season opener was postponed in accordance with the league's Health and Safety Protocols.

While Houston has enough players to take the floor against Portland, the NBA's official injury report indicates that seven different members of the Rockets' roster will be out for various reasons.

Second-year guard Chris Clemons is out for the season after suffering a torn Achilles tendon, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Gordon, Mason Jones and John Wall are each out due to Health and Safety Protocols while Kenyon Martin Jr. and Ben McLemore are both self-isolating.

Down seven, the Rockets enter their season opener with nine available players. As the league requires eight available players to proceed with a game, Houston's meeting with Portland is set to go on as scheduled.

Who will be available for the Rockets when they open their season? Below find a list of Houston's active players, with presumed starters in bold.

Houston Rockets Active Roster vs. Portland Trail Blazers

No. Player POS HT WT DOB Prior to NBA / Home Country NBA Exp.
0 Sterling Brown G 6-5 219 2/10/95 SMU / USA 3
2 David Nwaba G 6-4 210 9/6/90 Cal Poly / USA 4
4 Danuel House Jr. F 6-6 215 6/7/93 Texas A&M / USA 4
5 Bruno Caboclo F 6-9 218 9/21/95 Pinheiros / Brazil 6
8 Jae'Sean Tate F 6-4 230 10/28/95 Sydney Kings (Australia) / USA R
13 James Harden G 6-5 220 8/26/89 Arizona State / USA 11
17 P.J. Tucker F 6-5 245 5/5/85 Texas / USA 9
33 Brodric Thomas* G 6-5 185 1/28/97 Truman State / USA R
35 Christian Wood F/C 6-10 223 9/27/95 UNLV / USA 4

 *Denotes Two-Way Contract

While the Rockets debuts for Cousins and Wall are put on hold, free-agent acquisition Christian Wood will take the floor for the first time in a Houston uniform. In his lone preseason game, Wood finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds in under 24 minutes against the San Antonio Spurs.

James Harden, who averaged 34.3 points per game last season, has an opportunity to become just the third player in NBA history to win four scoring titles in a row. As Houston opens the season shorthanded, Harden could very well take on a much larger scoring load in the opener.

It will be the NBA debut for rookies Jae'Sean Tate and Brodric Thomas. Tate, a 6-foot-4 forward, signed with the Rockets after beginning his career as a member of the NBL's Sydney Kings. Thomas played his college ball at NCAA Division II Truman State University. He signed a two-way deal with the Rockets organization after an impressive showing in training camp.

The Rockets take on the Trail Blazers at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 26.

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Gilbert McGregor is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News.