Thunder forward Serge Ibaka will miss time for knee surgery
Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka will have surgery on his knee, according to a report from ESPN. Ibaka’s procedure is to address persistent soreness he has been feeling, which has caused him to miss the Thunder’s last two games.
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It’s unknown at this point how much time Ibaka will miss; the Thunder have not confirmed his surgery yet, only saying that he was visiting a specialist.
The 25-year-old Ibaka is just the latest Thunder starter to miss time this season; Kevin Durant has missed 39 games while Russell Westbrook has missed 15. Despite all the injuries, the Thunder hold the last playoff spot in the West at 37-29. However, they’ll have a tough time holding onto the spot if they keep losing key players.
Ibaka has averaged 14.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in his 64 games this season. He will likely be replaced by some combination of Steven Adams and Mitch McGary while out.
This deals a blow to the Thunder’s playoff hopes as they continue to stave off the Pelicans and the Suns for that last spot in the West. In fact, is it too late for them to transfer to the East? Oklahoma City isn’t too far west; they can swap with Milwaukee or something, then the whole NBA will be better.
Luckily for the Thunder, Russell Westbrook has been playing out of his mind lately; but they can’t expect that to continue forever, and who knows what Kevin Durant will do this year? His foot injury seems to be more persistent than the team believed, and he’s missed more than half of the season so far. Westbrook’s been good, but he can’t carry the team alone. (Although that’s basically what Anthony Davis has been doing for the Pelicans, so maybe he can).
Plus, if McGary’s starting, who will cheer the team on from the sidelines?
This would be a good time to point out that the Thunder used to have James Harden, and that he would be perfect for this situation. Also that team would be so ridiculous right now.
Sorry for bringing that up, Thunder fans.
Anyway, we’ll see how much time Ibaka actually misses; it’s possible they’ll be able to weather his absence without losing their playoff spot. On the other hand, the Pelicans are really close; this could be just the break they need to jump OKC. That’s the one good thing about this crazy conference imbalance: at least we’ll have a good playoff race this year.
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