Oklahoma City Thunder big Mike Muscala suffered a rib contusion during the game against the New York Knicks on Friday, the team announced during the game.
After the 101-89 victory, head coach Mark Daigneault said the injury was intensified because he got hit in the same spot he had suffered a bruise just a few weeks prior.
“He had a rib thing that happened I think a couple weeks ago, I don’t know what the timing was, but he literally got hit in the exact same spot,” Daigneualt said.
“If you have a bruise and then all of a sudden you take kind of a blunt hit to that bruise before it’s completely healed, that’s what he experienced on his ribs.
Muscala suffered the injury at the beginning of the fourth quarter and was ruled out of the game shortly after. He finished with five points and four rebounds in 15 minutes of play.
The seriousness of the injury was unclear immediately following the game Friday, but Daigneault said Muscala was in pain as he left the court.
“He’s a tough guy, he takes a lot of hits, so for him to walk off the way he did, I think he was feeling it,” Daigneault said.
Through eight games this season, Muscala is averaging a career-high 10.3 points and his making 42.9% of his 3-point attempts.
