Last year as the Rockets were gearing up for the playoffs and starting to hit their groove — winning seven of ten games — Donatas Motiejunas started to experience some lower back pain and was ruled out of a Timberwolves game on March 27th.
We learned Motiejunas would be shut down for the next one to two weeks and the Rockets re-evaluate to see if he'd be available for any part of the rest of the season.
"I still had hope when they told me in two weeks we'd re-evaluate again," Motiejunas told the media during the Rockets uniform unveiling event "I was still hoping I'd be able to play and come back,"
Motiejunas was having a clear-cut career year and had become a valued membered of the Rockets, working himself into a starter and one of the better scoring options on the team.