The Rockets' long road to full strength ran into a ditch. After one game this season with no one out because of an injury, Iman Shumpert and Kenneth Faried left Wednesday's game and were out for Thursday against the Heat with Eric Gordon also held out with a sore right knee.
Rookie Gary Clark, who had not played more than two minutes in the 14 games since Jan. 23, got his first start of the season with Gordon and Faried, who had each started two of the four games since the All-Star break, both out.
The Rockets' initial inclination was to start Gerald Green for the first time this season, but that would have left Austin Rivers as the only guard off the bench in the second half of a back-to-back.