Westbrook set for evaluation on Saturday over injured knee.
Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook has insisted that he is “pain-free” after leaving the win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night in the third quarter with a sprained knee.
The 25-year-old did not return to the game but revealed after that he felt good and wasn’t necessarily in pain.
However, he is expected to have his knee evaluated further on Saturday and it will be a blow for the Thunder who have been resting him on back-to-backs in order to protect him ahead of the playoffs.
Westbrook sat out Thursday’s win at Cleveland to rest his surgically repaired knee, but was injured when he collided with Kyle Lowry on a pump-fake near the sideline with around seven minutes left in the third quarter.
“I’m pain-free,” Westbrook said, according to The Oklahoman. “I’m just going to … get it looked at and go from there.”
After being struck on the knee, Westbrook immediately turned and called timeout as he bent over in pain before hobbling along the sideline to be attended to by the trainer.
The explosive point guard then walked off the court with help from center Hasheem Thabeet, with fresh concerns now arising over the condition of his knee.
Westbrook is averaging 21.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 36 games this season but he remains a concern with regular setbacks since suffering the initial injury last year.
While he has been on a minutes restriction since his return from surgery in February, it remains to be seen if this latest injury impacts on the playoffs and if the Thunder decide to restrict his minutes further for the rest of the regular season.
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