Thunder fans got a scare recently when guard Russell Westbrook suffered a knee injury versus the Raptors. Considering Westbrook has been dealing with knee issues which caused him to miss most of the Thunder’s run last season, seeing him go down again with another knee injury would have been a tough pill to swallow as the postseason is closing in.
An MRI was done on Russell’s knee and fortunately no sign of tears were found and the Thunder are calling it a sprain.
And on Saturday, after an MRI and clinical exam with team doctors, that fortunate diagnosis was confirmed. No areas of concerned surfaced as a result of Westbrook’s knee-to-knee contact with Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (you can see the play here).
The team is calling it a knee sprain. He isn’t expected to miss any additional time.
Considering OKC needs to have him on the court in the playoffs, the team might take a strong look at resting Westbrook with the few games remaining on the regular season schedule. Last season proved that for as much as Kevin Durant is a superstar player in the league, he cannot do it alone. Westbrook provides that much-needed punch to help Durant and without No. 0 on the court for OKC, the team might be having a longer offseason than expected.
