Texas Ex PJ Tucker played with nerve damage for much of season
Former Texas basketball standout forward PJ Tucker dealt with nerve damage in his upper body for much of the 2019-20 regular season.
There’s still a number of teams in the NBA featuring former members out of the Texas basketball program that are still alive in the season’s restart at the bubble at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL. On Aug. 17, the NBA playoffs started with four games taking place. One of the teams that is starting their run in the playoffs on Aug. 18 involves a former Longhorn basketball player, with versatile two-way forward PJ Tucker and the Houston Rockets.
Apparently Tucker was playing through a lot of pain for much of the 2019-20 season to date. The former Longhorn standout 6-foot-5 and 225 pound forward Tucker looks to have played through some nerve damage and pain in his left hand and shoulder for much of the 2019-20 season.
The nerve pain was sustained for Tucker in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves back in January of this year. He took a rough hit chasing down small forward Andrew Wiggins through a screen and hurt his neck after a collision with big man Gorgui Dieng. But he continued to play through and manage the pain as the season moved along.
Tucker did get some extra time to rest during the NBA’s novel coronavirus pandemic-induced season hiatus from back in mid-March. The NBA’s season restarted in the bubble at Disney World back on July 30. And Tucker kept active in the games the Rockets played to finish the regular season since the restart began last month.
This is the play where PJ Tucker was injured against the Wolves. #Rockets https://t.co/INkfsxXNAY pic.twitter.com/3D1Z8e2HRZ
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) August 17, 2020
But Tucker did have to leave the Rockets Aug. 12 matchup that resulted in a loss at the hands of the Indiana Pacers. He did finish out the Rockets regular season slate, which ended on Aug. 14 in a 134-96 drubbing at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers.
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Tucker and the Rockets are set to take on veteran star point guard Chris Paul and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of their playoff series, starting on Aug. 18. During the regular season, Tucker averaged 6.9 points per game, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. He shot 41.5 percent from the field, 35.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 81.3 percent from the free-throw line.