The Timberwolves have described Rudy Gobert's injury as a "left rib sprain." He's missed the last two games against Utah and he might miss a third straight when Minnesota hosts Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night.
Is this a day-to-day situation for the best defensive center in the league or could he be out for an extended period? That question is without an answer, but medical experts suggest that rib sprains can require several weeks of recovery.
According to The Whole Body Clinic, rib sprains can be "extremely painful" and take up to six weeks to heal.
"Combining treatment with management, including ice or heat and stretching, rib sprains will take approximately 2-3 weeks to recover, however they may potentially take up to 6 weeks to fully resolve," The Whole Body Clinic says.
What that means for Wolves will depend on the severity of the sprain suffered by Gobert. He met with the media before Monday night's win over the Jazz and said he's still in pain but the pain is improving.
"I just wanna be able to make sure I can help the team when I'm back," Gobert said, according to Timberwolves radio announcer Alan Horton. "Right now the level of pain is getting better every day but it's still not good enough."
A full week has passed since Gobert suffered the injury in a game against the Clippers. If he misses another week or two he would still be back for the stretch run, but if this is a worst-case scenario he might miss the rest of the regular season.
Again, that's a doomsday scenario for Minnesota but based on the definition of the injury, it might be wise to have high aspirations and low expectations.
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