Tuesday November 21, 2006 2:40 PM


Snyder out with broken hand


Houston guard is expected to miss 8 to 10 weeks


Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer

HOUSTON -- Rockets guard Kirk Snyder got the bad news confirmed on Tuesday.

He's going to be out for a significant amount of time.

Snyder, who was emerging as one of Houston's primary options off the bench, is expected to miss the next eight to 10 weeks after undergoing surgery on his broken right hand. Snyder's procedure was performed by Dr. Idris Gharbaoui Tuesday afternoon at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.

The Rockets guard suffered the injury on a drive to the basket in Monday night's win over the New York Knicks. After slashing to the middle of the lane, Snyder was leaping in the air when New York forward Jerome James slapped down on his hand. The guard immediately clutched his hand after the play and left the court.

Snyder, who had started one game, was averaging 5.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game this season before the injury.

Rookie Vassilis Spanoulis replaced Snyder in the rotation and is expected to see increased minutes in Snyder's absence. Spanoulis played a season-high 13 minutes against the Knicks.