Russell Westbrook Out vs. Cavaliers with Ankle Injury; Return Timeline Unknown
November 6, 2018
Oklahoma City Thunder superstar guard Russell Westbrook will miss Wednesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena because of a sprained ankle. The timetable for his return is unclear.
Royce Young of ESPN.com reported Tuesday that OKC wants to see how Westbrook "responds to treatment" before deciding the next step. He provided further details about the short-term outlook:
Royce Young @royceyoungSo it'll be kind of a day to day thing to see where Westbrook is at in terms of return to play. OKC plays Thursday against the Rockets, though that's a back-to-back with no practice or shootaround to test it, so more likely eyeing next week against Dallas or Phoenix.
The 29-year-old UCLA product suffered the injury during the third quarter of the Thunder's 122-116 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
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Westbrook has averaged 24.1 points, 8.9 assists, 8.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals while shooting 48.9 percent from the floor through seven appearances in the 2018-19 NBA season.
Oklahoma City head coach Billy Donovan was happy with how the team responded after losing the 2016-17 MVP for the rest of Monday's contest.
"When he went out, I thought our guys competed and played extremely hard," he told reporters.
The Thunder have now won five straight games following an 0-4 start.
Westbrook has been one of the league's most durable players since getting selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft. He's played at least 80 games seven times in 10 years, including each of the last three seasons (he also played all 66 games during a lockout-shortened 2011-12 campaign).
Dennis Schroder should handle a lion's share of the minutes at the point until the seven-time All-Star Game selection returns. It could also lead to some extra playing time for Raymond Felton and Hamidou Diallo as part of the backcourt rotation.
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