The Houston Rockets missed sixth man Danuel House during their Game 3 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers. Just hours before the game, he was declared to be out of the game due to personal reasons. Later he was found to be violating bubble protocol, and the NBA had suspended him.

House has reportedly sneaked in someone who wasn’t his wife/girlfriend, but the Rockets player has denied these allegations. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBPA is now fighting for him, so that he can play again in the Playoffs.

How badly will this affect the Houston Rockets?

Earlier, two other players had been found guilty of breaking the bubble protocol similarly. Kings’ Richaun Holmes and Rockets’ Bruno Caboclo had to spend 10 extra days in quarantine following their violation.

House’s absence affected the Rockets in the Game 3 loss. He has been a decent outside shooter, averaging 35% from the three-point line in the playoffs so far. He is also a solid defender, whose effort in the game goes beyond stats. His rebounding, agility, and recovery on defense have been crucial for the Rockets.

The Rockets rotation in the Playoffs was already thin. They just had seven players playing significant minutes and House was one of them. In Game 3, Jeff Green went from playing 21 minutes to 35 minutes to cover up for House’s absence. Although he had a decent game, House would have been a better presence on defense and would have prevented this extra workload.

If the Rockets are forced to go on without him, they will have to give more minutes to either Ben McLemore or DeMarre Carroll. In the regular season, McLemore was a sniper who played an important role in multiple wins. Carroll, on the other hand, barely played 24 games this season but is a better defender than McLemore.

Coach Mike D’Antoni will be hoping that House is able to return or he will have to do some serious rethinking about his rotations.