Houston forward Luis Scola’s availability for tonight’s game against the Spurs is uncertain after his work has been limited over the past several days.
Scola’s consecutive 311-game playing streak was snapped Tuesday night when he missed the Rockets’ loss at Phoenix with a sore left knee. But despite having several days to recuperate, Rockets coach Rick Adelman told the Houston Chronicle he when it meets the Spurs tonight at the Toyota Center.
“He’s never been hurt, you know, before, so I don’t have any guess as to if he’s going to play or try to play or, if he does try to play, how effective he’s going to be,” Adelman said. “We’re just hoping in his time frame he continues to get better and when he is ready to go he can play like he does normally.”
Scola did not practice on Friday for the second consecutive day and will likely be a game-time decision.
The 6-foot-9 power forward has traditionally been a huge nemesis for the Spurs, who originally drafted him in the second round of the 2002 draft. In his last seven games against them, Scola has averaged 20.0 points and 10.9 boards, while making 28 of 31 free throws (.903).
If Scola can’t go, Adelman could opt to replace him with Patrick Patterson, Brad Miller or Jordan Hill. Patterson had a big game against Phoenix in Scola’s place in the rotation, scoring 18 points and contributing three steals in a season-high 28 minutes.
Houston (33-33) has won 11 of 16 games since Feb. 2, but remains in 11th place in the Western Conference. The Rockets are three games behind No. 8 Memphis with 16 games remaining.
The Spurs have beaten the Rockets three times in a row, with all of those games being played at the ATT Center. The Rockets won the last meeting in Houston, 109-104 on February 26, 2010.
But their chances of beating the Spurs in what is a critical game for their playoff spots would be lessened considerably without Scola in the lineup.