John Hefferon MD
2 min read • January 05, 2023
Posted in
In the midst of playing his best basketball since returning from his foot injury, Zion Williamson has suffered a severe hamstring injury and will miss at least three weeks. The plan is for the team to evaluate his status in three weeks, then determine next steps from there. In 29 games this season, Williamson has averaged 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4.6 assists on 60.8% shooting from the field and 36.8% from 3.
The Pelicans are also without lanky big man Brandon Ingram, who has missed the last 17 games with a left big toe injury. Ingram essentially has a turf toe injury, according to the Pro Basketball Docs, which can linger and be reaggravated.
He has returned to the practice court, but the team will likely be cautious in bringing him back because of the reaggravation risk.
The star Wizards guard has missed 15 of Washington’s 39 games, with the latest issue concerning his left hamstring. He missed 3 games earlier this season with a left hamstring injury and missed 6 games with a right hamstring injury. COVID-19 cost him another 5 games and he missed 1 game with a quadriceps contusion.
In those 15 games without Beal this season, Washington is 7-8 while averaging 110.7 points. In the 24 games with Beal, the team is 10-14 while averaging 113 points per game.
Kyle Kuzma, Kristaps Porzingis and Rui Hachimura have stepped in as the main scorers when Beal doesn’t play
The former Sun and former Warrior will undergo surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left hand and will miss 4-to-6 weeks. Oubre reportedly suffered the injury in the first week of the season and has been playing through the pain.
Despite the injury, he’s averaging a career-best 20.2 points per game. However, he’s shooting just 30.8% from 3 and 42.1% from the field.
Gordon Hayward, who returned to action in mid-December, picked up a hamstring injury recently and will miss at least the next few games.
Milwaukee got a key piece back in point guard Jrue Holiday, who played in his first game since Christmas on Tuesday. He played just under 19 minutes, totaling 6 points, 1 rebound and 3 turnovers.
Holiday has missed 10 games this season, with 6 of those coming since December. In 27 games this season, he’s averaged 18.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists. He should get his conditioning back soon and be back to his usual production shortly.
Khris Middleton remains out with right knee soreness. It remains unclear exactly what knee issue is plaguing him. He missed the end of the playoffs last season with a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee.
Middleton has played in just 7 games after missing the first 20 games of the season recovering from offseason wrist surgery.
The 24-year-old will take a week to rehab his right hamstring after it reportedly did not feel as strong as before his Dec. 9 hamstring strain. Sexton will likely miss at least two weeks while recovering and ramping up from his hamstring.
Sexton is averaging 14.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in 24.1 minutes per game this season.
Written by John Hefferon MD
Collin Sexton did not practice today and is working to strengthen his hamstring. He’s going to be out for a week and re-evaluated
