Sports
Russell Westbrook Injury Could Bite Thunder in Playoffs
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook goes up for a dunk in the first quarter of the Thunder’s preseason NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
LOS ANGELES (USA Today) — As Oklahoma City Thunder players and coaches filed out of the Staples Center with the longest of faces Thursday night, their minds no doubt turned to these next couple of months and how challenging they now will be.
Kevin Durant stood at one end of the tunnel near the Thunder locker room, the reigning MVP’s right foot in a boot and his gut likely in a bind. Russell Westbrook had long since left this surreal scene, exiting by way of the loading dock with his right hand covered in bandage wrap after it was broken in the Thunder’s 93-90 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Depending on the diagnosis that is expected to be more clear on Friday, the Thunder’s championship hopes may have gone out the door with him. It’s unclear if the injury, which Thunder coach Scott Brooks called a small fracture of the second metacarpal, will require surgery.
