Is De'Aaron Fox playing tonight? Latest injury update for Spurs vs. Timberwolves, Game 5

The San Antonio Spurs will be happy to have Victor Wembanyama back after he was ejected in the first quarter of Sunday’s Game 4 in Minnesota. More than that, the Spurs are waiting to find out if they’ll have their starting point guard back for Game 5 as well. De’Aaron Fox is dealing with right ankle soreness after getting injured early in the second half of Sunday’s game. The Spurs lost and now the series is tied. 

The Spurs are a deep team so missing Fox may not hurt them as much, but it’s still not ideal to be down a star player amidst a postseason run. Here’s everything you need to know about Fox’s return and how the Spurs move forward in Game 5. 

De’Aaron Fox listed as questionable for Game 5 against Timberwolves

Fox is listed as questionable, meaning he’ll probably be a game-time decision for the Spurs. It’s not the worst thing in the world – especially with Wembanyama back – but it’s not ideal. He’s averaging just under 17 points per game this series and four assists. There will be a lot of pressure on Dylan Harper to pick up the slack. Again, the Spurs have enough depth and with Stephon Castle continuing to build on his rookie of the year campaign a year ago, the Spurs should be in good hands one way or the other. 

According to an ESPN story, the Spurs will probably wait until after shootaround or Mitch Johnson’s pre-game news conference to decide whether Fox will be active on Tuesday night or not. Fox is one of three Spurs averaging 18 or more points in the postseason. It will be a big loss, but the Spurs have the depth to manage in the interim. 

San Antonio Spurs projected starting lineup without De’Aaron Fox

Harper has started four games this year and none in the postseason. It will be a different vibe for him making his first postseason start of his NBA career. That said, he couldn’t walk into a better situation in San Antonio. He’s averaging nearly 14 points this postseason, the most behind the Spurs’ big three. He’s scored 18 or more points in half of the games against the Timberwolves as well, which is promising. 

As long as Castle and Wembanyama continue to garner a lot of attention, that should open up Harper to continue to be a steady producer for the Spurs. It will be different for Harper coming off the bench as a producer vs. starting, but if he can lead the second unit, you have to think with the starpower the Spurs have, filling in the starting rotation shouldn’t be too tall of a task. San Antonio has been using a 10-man rotation so if Johnson decides to keep a deep bench, Jordan McLaughlin could fill in as backup PG. Kelly Olynk could be another option and simply rotating Castle and Harper in with the starters and reserves.

Who needs to step up if De’Aaron Fox doesn’t play against the Timberwolves in Game 5?

The pressure will most likely be on the shoulders of Wembanyama and Castle. Both run their own two-man game that seems to hold the Spurs offense over just about every game. That said, the rest of the team will have to slightly elevate their game in Fox’s absence. If Harper doesn’t have as much success against first units like he does against the second ones, it will force the Spurs’ bench to produce more while Harper is out. For the most part, the bench scoring has been dominated by Harper and that’s such an important thing to have in the playoffs. 

The bench scoring is going to take massive hit without Fox and that means everyone else – particularly the starters, have to make sure the offense doesn’t take a hit. The Spurs are averaging 113 points this postseason. They’re going to find a way to score, the question is will they be able to be as efficient without Fox.

More NBA playoff news and analysis

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow