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Thunder hope Ibaka can return vs. Spurs
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
The Oklahoma City Thunder are holding out hope that injured power forward Serge Ibaka will be able to return during the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
Ibaka was expected to miss the series with a calf injury. He sustained the injury during the Thunder’s second-round series clincher over the Los Angeles Clippers last week.
The Thunder on Friday said Ibaka’s calf has made progress after testing it.
“The abundance of blood and therefore swelling in Serge’s calf has reduced substantially and unexpectedly, allowing a level of movement and stability not thought possible after the initial diagnosis,” the team said in a statement. “Based on both imaging and physical exam, the considerable swelling in the calf indicated the likelihood of a certain degree of injury, and that established the original time frame for recovery.
“At present, Serge has yet to complete a full basketball workout, but is walking and doing light basketball drills. With this new information, and in an effort to keep his status current, we are now listing him as day-to-day with the understanding that there is a possibility for him to play in this series.”
The Spurs lead the best-of-7 series 2-0. Game 3 is Sunday in Oklahoma City.
Ibaka is averaging 12.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots in 13 postseason games.
Ibaka also led the NBA in blocks during the regular season for the fourth straight season with 219 and averaged a career-high 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds.
