Forward Rui Hachimura underwent surgery on Friday to repair a nasal fracture he sustained during Wednesday’s loss to Dallas, the Los Angeles Lakers announced (X link via Jovan Buha of The Athletic). The 25-year-old will be reevaluated in about a week.
It’s an unfortunate setback for Hachimura, who missed four games earlier this season while in the NBA’s concussion protocol. If he returns in exactly one week, which seems optimistic, he would miss another four games – the Lakers begin a four-game road trip Saturday in Cleveland that runs through next Thursday.
Hachimura, who re-signed with L.A. as a restricted free agent over the summer, is off to a solid start to the 2023-24 season, averaging 11.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 0.9 SPG on .505/.429/.786 shooting through 12 games (23.3 MPG).
Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:
- Boston Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis tells Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe that he’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday after tweaking his left calf during Friday’s loss to the Orlando Magic. Porzingis, who is averaging 19.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 1.8 BPG on .553/.329/.810 shooting through 14 games (30.8 MPG) with his new club, is optimistic that the injury isn’t serious. He also says he didn’t slip, which some players have mentioned as being an issue with the in-season tournament courts.
- Oklahoma Thunder wing Jalen Williams was unable to practice on Friday and will miss his third straight game on Saturday due to a left hip strain, relays Rylan Stiles of "Locked on Thunder." A 2022 lottery pick (12th overall) who finished runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 2022-23, Williams is averaging 17.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG and 3.6 APG on .518/.368/.880 shooting in 13 games (33.2 MPG) for Oklahoma City, which holds the second-best record in the Western Conference at 11-4.
- Speaking to the media on Friday, Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons said his surgically-repaired thumb is improving, adding that he’s been doing ball-handling and “a little bit of shooting,” according to Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report. As Highkin notes, Simons has been out for approximately four weeks and was expected to miss about six weeks.
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