There's good news and bad news for them networks on their latest injury report, as Brian Lewis of the New York Post Relay. Leading goalscorer Cam Thomas was ruled out for Wednesday's game in Phoenix because of left hamstring soreness. Thomas, also recently battling an illness and back pain, was substituted in the third quarter against Golden State on Monday to “protect him from himself,” as the head coach put it Jordi Fernandez.
Big man Noah Clowney will join Thomas on the sidelines as he is sidelined for a second straight game with a sprained left ankle. Brooklyn has not yet provided an update on the results of an MRI scan Clowney underwent on his injured ankle, Lewis notes.
However, the struggling Nets team could soon get reinforcements. According to Lewis, Nic Claxton (lower back pain), Dorian Finney Smith (left ankle sprain) and Cameron Johnson (Right ankle sprain) are all considered questionable to play on Wednesday. Claxton and Finney-Smith each missed Monday's game, while Johnson left in the first half.
Ben Simmons is also off the injury report after being sidelined Monday while receiving treatment for a lower back injury.
We have a few more injury-related notes from across the NBA:
- Originally listed as probable due to a left calf strain, dollar star Giannis Antetokounmpo suffered a late scratch against Miami on Tuesday due to swelling in his left knee, per Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. As Owczarski notes, Antetokounmpo underwent surgery on that knee in the summer of 2023.
- Grizzlies guard Yes Morant played Monday for the first time since Nov. 6, but was sidelined for Wednesday's game against Detroit because of a new injury, a bruised left knee, he writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Morant downplayed the suffering after Monday's game: “A little knee to knee. Everyone knows that I get back up every time. …Quick little Stinger, get out of the way and just deal with it now.”
- wizard guard Jordan Poole missed a second straight game on Tuesday due to left hip flexor pain, the team said (Twitter link). Poole was originally listed as questionable, so this appears to be a day-to-day issue rather than one that will keep him out of action for an extended period of time.
- In his first game after a two-week absence due to a right ankle sprain Lakers center Jaxson Hayes aggravated the same ankle injury in the final minute of Tuesday's loss to Phoenix. According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, he had to be helped to the locker room (Twitter Left), who says the team plans to provide an update on Hayes on Wednesday afternoon.
