* Tonight on TNT: Cavaliers vs. Rockets (8 ET)

Cavaliers point guard Derrick Rose has emerged as the team’s No. 3 scorer (14.3 points per game) this season. He has also dealt with some nagging ankle issues this season, missing a four-game stretch late last month. It appears those ankle issues are bothering him again and have affected his status for tonight’s game.

Rose will sit out tonight against the Houston Rockets and Iman Shumpert will start in his place, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said Thursday. Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com has more:

Guard Derrick Rose will miss his fifth game tonight against the Rockets because of soreness in the left ankle he sprained Oct. 20, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said.

Iman Shumpert will start in Rose’s place for the second time this season.

Rose missed four consecutive games after the injury, and returned Oct. 29. The last two games have been a struggle for him, however, with 10 points in each contest on a combined 8-of-22 shooting with eight turnovers and three assists.

Dwyane Wade, and not Rose, has played the entire fourth quarter in those two games.

Shumpert will have to guard MVP candidate James Harden, who’s third in the NBA in scoring (29.5 points per game) and assists (9.7).

Earlier Thursday, ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin reported that Rose’s status going forward is unknown:

Rose already missed four games because of his sprained left ankle, which occurred late in the Cavs’ second game of the season — a win over the Milwaukee Bucks — when Greg Monroe committed what was later upgraded to a flagrant foul on the 2011 NBA MVP.

…

Houston marks the start of a four-game trip for the Cavs (5-6), followed by games against the Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks and Charlotte Hornets.

Rose’s status for the Mavs game is still undetermined, sources said.