The HornetsAn already troubling injury situation took a turn for the worse on Friday night Brandon Miller had to leave the game against Boston in the second quarter with soreness in the right groin. Miller joins a long injury list that already includes Mog Knueppel (Sprained left hamstring), Grant Williams (right hamstring strain) Moussa Diabate (right quadriceps tendinopathy) and Dennis Schroeder (pain in the left hip).
coach Charles Lee understands that injuries are a part of life in the NBA and doesn’t mind juggling his lineups to try to keep the team competitive, Roderick Boone writes in Substack column (subscription required).
“yes i like it” Lee said. “I’m excited about it. I’m accepting the challenge. Our staff is accepting the challenge. Our players are accepting the opportunity to play maybe some extended minutes and have some expanded roles. We talk a lot about having no excuses. We (played) a guy I worked for before in Boston (Celtics coach Joe Mazzula). He always said that nobody cares and nobody cares if you have injuries and you just have to keep trucking and keep competing. We know what our identity is and whoever plays, they have to play according to that identity.”
After Friday’s game, Lee was unable to provide any information on the severity of Miller’s injury or how much time he might miss.
“I saw him start limping in a couple of games and he said he was good and then asked to be substituted.” Lee told reporters. “I think we’ll evaluate him over the weekend and then we’ll have more information.”
There’s more from Charlotte, all from Boone:
- Knüppel suffered a left hamstring strain six minutes into his season debut on Wednesday after missing the first part of the season with the same injury, but Lee insists the Hornets have taken the proper steps to ensure he is ready to return to action. League sources tell Boone that Knuppel has played in four “prep” games involving non-rotation players as well as staff. Lee said the pitching staff made sure Knuppel could handle contact and he checked all the necessary boxes before being cleared to play. It has not yet been determined how long Knueppel may be sidelined. “I also look forward to receiving this answer soon” Lee said. “Talking to the enforcement staff and trying to just gather all the information we can right now, I think it’s going to take a little bit of time so we can make sure we’re giving the right timeline for Kon.”
- Williams practiced with the team’s G League affiliate on Thursday and showed he can handle contact. Lee said the veteran forward still has important milestones to reach in his recovery but is getting closer to being released. Boone is hearing from league sources that Williams’ return to action could happen within the next week.
- Williams and Knuppel were injured in September practices before training camp, so Lee is considering making changes to the offseason.“I definitely think we need to take some time and evaluate what we’re doing in the summer and how we can best prepare these guys.” he said. “They’re obsessed with their craft. They’re obsessed with daily improvement, and that’s great, but we need to tune them up to maybe limit some of these injuries that we have.”