The Oklahoma City Thunder and their fans received a pretty major scare in Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook went down with an ankle injury late in the third quarter after landing awkwardly on Anthony Davis’ foot. Westbrook could be heard screaming in pain before he limped off to the locker room. He didn’t return to the court.
The good news here is that tests confirmed Westbrook suffered nothing more than a sprained ankle. The bad news? There’s currently no timeline for his return from said injury.
Update on Russell Westbrook: More tests and evaluation confirmed an ankle sprain and nothing more. Looked worse than it actually is. He's out against the Cavs tomorrow (still traveling with the team) and before determining a timeline they want to see how he responds to treatment.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) November 6, 2018
Oklahoma City ended up holding off New Orleans for its fifth consecutive win following an 0-4 start to the season. But that’s not really the story here. Ankle sprains can vary in terms of severity and treatment.
While the Thunder received better-than-expected news on the injury front, they must move forward with caution. Russ can’t return until he’s 100 percent. Doing so would create further injury concerns as it relates to the sprained left ankle. Given that he also underwent offseason knee surgery, this is certainly an issue.
And needless to say, the team’s only hope at contention this season is with Westbrook completely healthy.