The Charlotte Hornets announced on Saturday that forward Gordon Hayward suffered a right foot sprain in the second quarter of Friday’s win over the Pacers and will be out for approximately four weeks before being re-evaluated.
The injury is the latest blow in a series of them over the last month. After heading into a West Coast road trip on March 17 at full strength, the Hornets lost LaMelo Ball potentially for the season, Malik Monk for at least two weeks and now Hayward for four.
With the season quickly coming to a conclusion, there remains a distinct possibility that the Hornets could be without Ball, Hayward and Monk for the remainder of the season.
Still, Charlotte sits in the fourth seed at 25-23, sitting ahead of the Heat based on win percentage but still 5.5 games ahead of 10th place and the final play-in spot. With Hayward, Monk and Ball now all likely out for the majority of the run-in to the playoffs, maintaining their spot in the playoffs will be the challenge and focus.
