Hornets Point guard LaMelo Ball He was diagnosed with a left calf strain, the team said announced this in a press release today. Ball's injury, sustained in Wednesday's game against Miami, was initially ruled as left calf soreness before undergoing further evaluation.
According to the Hornets, their leading scorer will be reevaluated two weeks from the date of the injury, which is December 11th.
That means Ball, who missed his first game of the season on Friday against New York, will be sidelined for at least Charlotte's next five games – against the Hawks, Sixers, Knicks, Cavaliers and Pacers – and could be out beyond that.
Ball has been one of the NBA's most dynamic players so far this season, averaging 31.3 points per game, the highest of his career, as well as 6.9 assists and 5.4 rebounds per night. His shooting percentage is a modest 43.0%, he averages 4.5 turnovers per game and his defense has been subpar, but the Hornets will certainly miss the 23-year-old on offense.
The Hornets also announced this guard today Tre manHe, who has missed the last four games due to back pain, was diagnosed with disc inflammation. Mann will be re-evaluated in two weeks, on December 14th.
Mann, who is in his fourth NBA season, got off to a solid start this fall with averages of 14.1 PPG, 3.0 APG and 2.9 RPG and a .400 3PT% in his first 13 games off the bench ( 24.5). MPG). He will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
The struggling Hornets will lean heavily on the third-string point guard Vasilije Micic With the ball and man unavailable, the Serb played 31 minutes in the loss to New York on Friday. Nick Smith Jr., KJ SimpsonAnd Seth Curry are among the other candidates for larger roles in the backfield.
There are some Good news on the injury front for Charlotte. center Nick Richardswho hasn't played since Nov. 1 because of a broken rib, was upgraded to questionable for Saturday's game against Atlanta. It sounds like he's on track to come back either tonight or Tuesday against Philadelphia.
