![\"Is](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/lamelo-ball-of-charlotte-hornets.jpg\" "\\"LaMelo")
LaMelo Ball of Charlotte Hornets (Image via Getty) LaMelo Ball will play for the Charlotte Hornets against the Houston Rockets on February 19, 2026. He is not on the injury report. Earlier this week, he was involved in a minor car accident but did not suffer any injuries.Charlotte comes into this game in good form, with nine wins in their last eleven. Ball has led that stretch along with Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. There are no limits expected on his minutes.<\/p>\n
LaMelo Ball’s injury report vs the Houston Rockets (February 19, 2026)<\/p>\n
LaMelo Ball will start at point guard and continue as the team\u2019s main creator. There are no concerns about his availability.He remains central to Charlotte\u2019s offense. He handles the ball, creates shots, and sets up teammates. His connection with Miller and Knueppel has been consistent during this run.<\/p>\n
Charlotte Hornets short-handed around their core<\/p>\n
Charlotte Hornets are missing several players, which increases Ball\u2019s role. \u2022 Miles Bridges – out (league suspension) \u2022 Moussa Diabate – out (league suspension) \u2022 Liam McNeeley – out (left ankle sprain) \u2022 Coby White – out (left calf strain)The expected starting group is Ball, Miller, Knueppel, Grant Williams, and Ryan Kalkbrenner. Collin Sexton should see minutes off the bench.Charlotte will rely on Ball to run pick-and-roll with Kalkbrenner and create open shots for Miller and Knueppel.<\/p>\n
Rockets still without key players (February 19, 2026)<\/p>\n
Houston has no new injuries for this game but remains without a few players for the season. \u2022 Fred VanVleet – out (right knee ACL recovery) \u2022 Steven Adams – out (left ankle surgery) \u2022 Tristen Newton – out (G League assignment)The Rockets will depend on Alperen Sengun, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., and Amen Thompson. Their focus is on defense and rebounding.<\/p>\n
Matchup focus: LaMelo Ball against Houston\u2019s defense<\/p>\n
Houston is likely to pressure Ball with size and switches. They will try to force him to give up the ball.Charlotte needs to space the floor well. If Ball moves the ball quickly, they can still get good shots. Houston will try to control the paint and win rebounds.<\/p>\n
LaMelo Ball\u2019s form this season<\/p>\n
Ball has been steady this season. He is scoring in the high teens and adding assists and rebounds. He has been making threes regularly and creating chances for teammates. His late-game decisions have also been more controlled.<\/p>\n
Quick reference: Who\u2019s playing in tonight’s Hornets vs Rockets game? (February 19, 2026)<\/p>\n
TeamStar\/Key Players (relevant to tonight)Tonight’s Status vs Rockets\/HornetsSource Hornets LaMelo Ball Expected to play, not on injury report \u2014 Hornets Brandon Miller Available, key scorer \u2014 Hornets Kon Knueppel Available, in projected lineup \u2014 Hornets Grant Williams Available, projected starter \u2014 Hornets Ryan Kalkbrenner Available, projected starter \u2014 Hornets Miles Bridges Out \u2013 league suspension \u2014 Hornets Moussa Diabate Out \u2013 league suspension \u2014 Hornets Liam McNeeley Out \u2013 left ankle sprain \u2014 Hornets Coby White Out \u2013 left calf strain \u2014 Rockets Fred VanVleet Out for season \u2013 right knee ACL repair \u2014 Rockets Steven Adams Out for season \u2013 left ankle surgery \u2014 Rockets Tristen Newton Out \u2013 G League assignment \u2014Also read: Houston Rockets vs Charlotte Hornets injury report: Who’s playing, injured and questionable players, head-to-head records, team stats, and more (February 19, 2026)<\/a>Ball is expected to start unless there is a late change before the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LaMelo Ball of Charlotte Hornets (Image via Getty) LaMelo Ball will play for the Charlotte Hornets against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3777],"tags":[7,684,473,78750,3878,685,61549,58982,81272,6,8889],"class_list":{"0":"post-612583","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-charlotte-hornets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-charlotte","10":"tag-charlotte-hornets","11":"tag-charlotte-hornets-vs-houston-rockets","12":"tag-charlottehornets","13":"tag-hornets","14":"tag-hornets-lineup-news","15":"tag-lamelo-ball-injury-status","16":"tag-lamelo-ball-updates","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-nba-injury-report"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116100108090019878","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}