LA Clippers guard Russell Westbrook underwent successful surgery to repair a fracture in his left hand, and will be evaluated weekly. While timetables can vary for injuries like this, it was recently revealed by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that Westbrook is expected to return by the playoffs.
"There’s an expectation that he can be back with this team before the playoffs… For this Clippers team, certainly they are comforted with the idea that they will have Russell Westbrook back for the playoffs," Wojnarowski reported during a recent ESPN segment.
As Wojnarowski added, Westbrook fractured his right hand in 2014, and was able to return in 27 days. With there still being over a month before the postseason begins, it seems Westbrook should be able to make his return to the court before that time comes.
The Clippers have given Bones Hyland the backup point guard role in Westbrook's absence, and he has averaged 3.3 PPG, 2.8 APG, and 0.5 RPG on 30% from the field and 12.5% from deep in 12.8 minutes per contest. For Hyland, these four games are the first playing time he has gotten since January.
Needing Westbrook's energy, playmaking, defense, and more, the Clippers are hopeful and seemingly optimistic that the 2017 league MVP will be able to make his return from injury before the playoffs start.
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