The Oklahoma City Thunder will have more of their usual starters on the injured list than on the actual court against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Wing Lu Dort will miss the game, according to The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto.
Dort injured his left knee in the first quarter of the game against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Classified as left knee soreness, he missed the remainder of that contest, a Thunder win, and will be out Friday as well.
He joins guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and George Hill on the injured list.
Gilgeous-Alexander will miss his second game due to a left knee sprain. Hill is out after undergoing a procedure on his thumb.
The Thunder played well against the Rockets on Wednesday without those starters. Dort only played one quarter while Hill and Gilgeous-Alexander missed the whole game, yet Oklahoma City won 104-87.
Theo Maledon and Hamidou Diallo started at the guard spots.
It’s unclear who will get the nod in place of Dort. Justin Jackson played 30 minutes on Wednesday, but he’s one of the only bench players with ball handling acumen. Kenrich Williams, who scored a team-high 19 points against Houston and is the best defender of the bench unit, would make more sense to replace Dort.
Head coach Mark Daigneault could also start Isaiah Roby and go with a frontcourt of Darius Bazley-Roby-Al Horford.
