Charlotte Hornets Injury Update: Nicolas Batum re-injures finger in loss
During the second quarter of Monday night’s loss to Phoenix, Charlotte Hornets forward Nicolas Batum re-injured the middle finger on his left hand.
Aside from a few minor dings, the Charlotte Hornets have been relatively healthy as of late. Going into Monday’s game against Phoenix, the injury report was spotless. Now, you can add Nicolas Batum to the report, as he has suffered an injury to the same finger that costed him 11 games to open the season.
Batum got the finger caught in the jersey of Ricky Rubio during the second quarter, and did not return to the game afterwards. He received an X-ray after the game, which did not reveal another fracture.
The Hornets ended up losing the game with a final score of 109-104.
The 30 year old is dealing with a hyper-extended finger, and his playing status moving forward is currently unclear. It wouldn’t surprise me if Batum misses some time due to this injury, but it’s not something that should keep him on the sidelines for a long period of time.
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His role with the team has changed significantly this season, but Batum still plays a facilitating role while coming off the bench. They missed his presence when he was out with the original finger injury, and they will again miss his presence if this injury causes him to miss any time.
If he’s out, I would assume that rookie Cody Martin steps into some extended minutes. Dwayne Bacon, who began the season as a starter, could also see an uptick in playing time.
On the season, Batum is averaging just 3.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 21.4 minutes of action. Those numbers certainly don’t jump off the page, but the Hornets like his ability to set his teammates up, as well as defend and hit the occasional three-ball.
Hopefully this injury won’t keep Batum in street clothes very long, if at all. Yeah, he’s not the most liked player among the fans due to his bloated salary, but he’s a solid veteran option that can help this team pull out some wins along the way.
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The Charlotte Hornets are back in action tomorrow, facing a Golden State Warriors team that has been decimated by injuries this season. We will get an official update on Batum before then, but for now, let’s just hope he’s alright and can fight through this one.