Houston Rockets forward PJ Tucker (17) reacts after a foul was called on Eric Gordon (10) during the second half of an NBA game at Toyota Center, Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, in Houston.
After a nine-point first half, Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni thought P.J. Tucker might be done for the game with a strained groin.
Instead, the forward returned to finish the game with 16 points. His defensive effort helped fend off a fourth quarter comeback attempt in a 102-97 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday.
"P.J. is solid as always. I mean he's indispensable," D'Antoni said. "He tweaked his groin at halftime and I didn't know if he was going to play or not but you can't keep him out. Not only did he play, he played a lot of minutes. He's so important to what we do it's not even funny."
In nearly 35 minutes on the court, Tucker added two rebounds and a block. He made four of seven 3-pointers.
Having scored seven points or less in five of the first six games of December, Tucker has scored 30 in his last two games combined.
"I was struggling for a little while with my shot, trying to find my spots, and my teammates have just been doing a good job leading me (and) getting me the ball in my spots," Tucker said. "Shots have been falling, so just trying to stay consistent."
Tucker still feels soreness in his groin. But on a team that's riding just its second win streak of four games this season, discomfort won't be enough to sideline him.
"It's tight," he said. "I always go through stuff like that, little knickknack injuries, it's stuff you play through. We've been struggling so we need every game right now. We're going to fight through small injuries to try to get wins."
Four Rockets scored in double-digits on Monday night, led by James Harden's 47-point performance. With Harden averaging 33.4 points per game this month, Tucker wants to see Harden's and the entire team's recent form continue.
"He's rolling right now," Tucker said of Harden. "He's getting back in his form for how he plays and what he does for this team and the key is just for everyone else to keep doing their job and keep doing what they're doing.
"It's good to see everybody getting in form and doing what they do now that we're starting to pick it up a little bit."