Charlotte Hornets Injury Update: PJ Washington undergoes surgery, return unclear
The Charlotte Hornets announced yesterday that rookie PJ Washington had successful surgery on his injured finger, but did not give a timetable for a return.
After a few dings and bruises during the course of his first season with the Charlotte Hornets, rookie PJ Washington is now dealing with an injury that required surgery, and will also require him to spend some time on the sideline.
Back on the 14th, the team announced that Washington had sustained a fractured fifth finger on his right hand in a game against Chicago. Washington, obviously, missed Charlotte’s last contest in Indiana, which ended up being a blowout loss.
Yesterday afternoon, the team announced that Washington underwent surgery on the finger. They will update his status when it is made available.
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Nicolas Batum suffered a fractured finger during the season-opening win over Chicago, and ended up missing 11 games of action. Batum didn’t undergo surgery, though. Regardless, I would assume that Washington ends up missing a few weeks of action.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Washington will be sidelined through Christmas, which seems pretty accurate. Still, we’ll wait for an official timetable from the Hornets themselves
Washington has had a very good rookie season for the Hornets, averaging 12.2 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 41 percent from three-point range. He certainly did quiet down a bit after a hot start to the season, but he was still playing good basketball before getting injured.
Charlotte opted to start Cody Zeller at power forward against the Pacers on Sunday, but I’m not sure if that is something that will stick, considering Indiana is one of the bigger teams in the league.
Marvin Williams figures to be the best fit for that starting unit, but he’s dealing with a knee injury. He should be back before Washington, though, which will give the Hornets an extra boost at the power forward spot.
They will need Zeller to continue stepping up, along with others such as Marvin Williams (when healthy) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Losing Washington hurts, but they have a handful of veterans that should be able to hold down the fort until he returns to action.
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The Charlotte Hornets are back in action tonight against the Sacramento Kings. It’s going to be a difficult game against a team fighting for positioning in the Western Conference. We’ll see what they can do in game two without Washington.