Abdel Nader was a late scratch from the Oklahoma City Thunder’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers because of a “tingling” sensation he felt in his elbow, head coach Billy Donovan said after the 107-103 overtime loss.
“He just had some tingling in his elbow. They just took him over to get him checked out,” Donovan said.
Nader wasn’t listed on the injury report. Donovan said it occurred so close to game time, the coach didn’t know about it until shortly before he had to submit the active and inactive roster for the game.
At that point, Nader was replaced on the active list with Kevin Hervey.
While Donovan didn’t know what caused it, he thinks the sensation may be connected to Nader’s neck.
“It’s something I think more with his neck, where he’s got like, almost something with his neck that’s kind of running down into his elbow,” Donovan said.
“He’s going to get it checked out. at this point in time we’re just going to be a little bit more cautious.”
With three days off before the Thunder’s first playoff game, Oklahoma City decided to scratch Nader from the lineup for the regular season game.
The loss Friday didn’t matter in the grand scheme. Oklahoma City was locked into a matchup against the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs whether or not they won.
At this point, it appears the Thunder have two question marks heading into that series: Lu Dort, who had a knee injury but the severity is unclear, and Nader, who had the tingling sensation.
