Mavericks forward P.J. Washington is not listed on the injury report ahead of Sunday’s game vs. Philadelphia, so he appears on track to return after missing the past seven games with a right ankle sprain, tweets Christian Clark of The Athletic.
It’s certainly welcome news for Dallas, which has been absolutely devastated by injuries over the past several weeks. Even with Washington back, the Mavs will still be shorthanded, as Kyrie Irving (torn ACL), Olivier Maxence-Prosper (shoulder surgery), Dante Exum (broken hand), Anthony Davis (left adductor strain), Dereck Lively (right ankle stress fracture) and Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain) are out.
Jaden Hardy is doubtful Sunday as he continues to deal with a right ankle sprain, while Kai Jones (left quad strain) and Caleb Martin (left hip strain) are questionable. Brandon Williams, who is on a two-way deal, is probable with left hamstring tightness, per the league’s official injury report.
Here are a few more injury notes from around the NBA:
- Bulls guard Lonzo Ball missed 15 games earlier in 2024/25 due to a right wrist injury. He reinjured the wrist at the end of February, causing him to miss the past seven games, and will likely miss at least five more, as he didn’t travel with the team during its West Coast trip, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I haven’t heard anything about him being shut down,” head coach Billy Donovan said Saturday. “I think what he’s doing right now is just trying to get himself back to playing. Doctors aren’t saying, ‘Hey, listen, you gotta sit out.’ It’s just when he feels that he can do things on the court that he’s comfortable with. Like he can’t shoot right now, hasn’t been able to do that . . . passing and dribbling. Until that subsides, then he’ll be out, but I think he, in my conversations with him, it’s been everything to try to get back to playing. No one has said to me from above, ‘Hey, this goes on a little longer, we’re going to have him shut down.’ I have not heard that.”
- Trail Blazers wing Matisse Thybulle underwent a procedure in October, just before the start of the regular season, to address inflammation in his right knee. It wasn’t supposed to sideline him for a significant period, but he sustained a bad right ankle sprain in late November during his ramp-up process, which set back his recovery. “I’ve talked to so many people about it now, and the overarching sentiment is that with ankle sprains this bad, sometimes it’s better to just break it than to sprain it,” Thybulle said, per Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “Because the recovery time with all the ligaments that were torn takes so long. With a bone, it can just heal back up and it’s just as strong. It was a whole process. And then to have it happen in conjunction with a different injury … You start with the knee, and then hurt the ankle as bad as I did, and have those things be married as one giant injury to be dealt with. It made it quite the process.” Thybulle was technically active for the first time this season on Wednesday vs. New York, but he didn’t end up playing. Head coach Chauncey Billups said the two-time All-Defensive member’s role is up in the air for the final 15 games of ’24/25, according to Highkin.
- Former NBA big man Frank Kaminsky, who spent training camp with Phoenix last fall before being cut, will miss the remainder of the NBA G League season, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). Kaminsky, who had been playing for the Raptors 905 until recently, is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.