Rockets' Patrick Beverley out with left wrist injury

The NBA injury gods giveth, and they taketh away.

On the same day that Houston Rockets big man Dwight Howard (right knee injury) was expected to play for the first time since Jan. 23, point guard Patrick Beverley saw his season potentially come to an end.

According to a person with knowledge of his situation, Beverley has a torn ligament in his left wrist. The Rockets point guard will have further discussions on his treatment and the next step after seven to 10 days, but the prospect of him returning to the Rockets before season's end remains in play. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the team had not yet announced a diagnosis.

Beverley, the 26-year-old who heads a Rockets defense that is ranked fourth in the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions, left Monday night's game against the Indiana Pacers with what appeared to be a left wrist sprain.

But Houston coach Kevin McHale later warned that the injury could be bad, telling news reporters, "If the news is bad on Pat, he might be out a while. We will find out the news on Pat, but the initial thought was that it might be bad. Hopefully it will be good news."

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The Rockets will have to take the point guard-by-committee approach to filling the void, with Jason Terry, Pablo Prigioni and Nick Johnson among their options at the position. Houston is currently third in the Western Conference (47-23), but only 1½ games separate them from the fifth-place Los Angeles Clippers in securing home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

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