HOUSTON -- Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol will not play Tuesday against the Houston Rockets because of tendinitis in both knees.

"The biggest thing with him was that he was playing hurt and in this league, you just can't do that," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I just didn't think he was running fluidly."

D'Antoni said Gasol made the decision to rest after consulting with the coaching and training staff. There is no set timetable for how long Gasol will be out. Antawn Jamison will start in his place.

"We got to get him healthy," D'Antoni said. "Whatever it takes -- one game, two games, 10 games -- I don't know. It's day to day but he's got to be healthy. It wasn't fair (to him). He's trying to battle through some stuff and in this league, you just can't do that."

While Gasol's injury is listed by the team as tendinitis, he told reporters that it could be tendinosis, a chronic form of tendinitis, that is limiting him. He is considering undergoing an MRI on both of his knees when the team returns to L.A. this weekend.

Their game against the Rockets is the start of a particularly tough stretch for the Lakers -- eight of their next 10 are on the road. L.A. is 1-4 away from Staples Center this season.

Gasol said he would definitely miss Wednesday's game against the New Orleans Hornets and intimated that it was unlikely he would be available Friday in Oklahoma City or Sunday at home against the Utah Jazz, as well.

"It's something that's hard to predict because you just got to let it calm down," Gasol said before the Rockets game Tuesday. "So, until I feel like I can be out there playing close to 100 percent or at 100 percent, the team doesn't deserve any less, I don't deserve any less to be out there performing at my best and that's what I'll try to do."

The Lakers called up rookie big man Robert Sacre from the Los Angeles D-Fenders, their D-League affiliate, Monday as big-man insurance for their bench. Forward Jordan Hill, who sat out the Lakers' last game as a coaches' decision, could also find minutes in the rotation.

"Somebody's woe is somebody's gain and they got to take advantage of it," D'Antoni said.

Kobe Bryant said he could relate to Gasol's struggles, telling reporters after Tuesday's shootaround that he had to make a similar decision to sit out late last season when tenosynovitis in his left shin caused him to miss seven games.