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UPDATE: Jan. 11, 12:31 p.m. — Westbrook is expected to miss one week due to the quad injury he’s been dealing with the past few games. The PG also dislocated his finger last week, so that doesn’t help things much either. With Westbrook sidelined for a bit longer, Raul Neto should continue to start for the Wizards. He isn’t a bad fantasy basketball waiver wire option in the short-term if you want to play him for the week.
UPDATE: Jan. 10, 3:44 p.m. — Westbrook remains sidelined for Monday’s game vs. the Phoenix Suns while Beal is available to return to the lineup.
UPDATE: Jan. 9, 6:17 p.m. — So not only is Westbrook out but Bradley Beal is now being ruled out after being in close contact with Jayson Tatum, who was placed into a 10-14 day quarantine earlier in the day.
Wizards star Bradley Beal is out for tonight vs. Miami due to health and safety protocols and contact tracing exposure to Jayson Tatum, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 9, 2021
UPDATE: Jan. 9, 5:21 p.m. — Westbrook has been ruled out for Saturday’s game vs. the Heat. Raul Neto will start in his place.
Scott Brooks says he doesn’t know if Westbrook will miss multiple games with the quad injury. He’s “got hit with it the last couple of games.” Brooks says Westbrook’s quad is “pretty sore."
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 9, 2021
UPDATE: Jan. 9, 12:35 p.m. — Westbrook is being listed as questionable to play in Saturday’s game vs. the Miami Heat due to a quad injury. This is a new ailment outside of Westbrook’s dislocated finger from earlier in the week. With two injuries, there’s a decent chance Russ sits out on the second night of a back-to-back.
UPDATE: Jan. 8, 6:10 p.m. — Westbrook will play in Friday’s game vs. the Celtics. It doesn’t appear that Russ will be on a minutes restriction, so he’s good to roll out in fantasy basketball leagues. I don’t know if I’d consider him in DFS on DraftKings at the price going up against Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown. You will get a lot of leverage in a strong game environment.
UPDATE: Jan. 8, 10:57 a.m. — Westbrook is not listed on the injury report for Friday’s game vs. the Boston Celtics. So it appears that Russ will be fine and available to play tonight. We’ll keep an eye out for updates since it’s still early in the day.
Washington Wizards PG Russell Westbrook suffered a dislocated finger in Wednesday’s 141-136 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. The news was announced after the game. Russ commented on the injury and also told reporters that he doesn’t know if he’ll end up missing any time. For what it’s worth, Russ played 39 minutes before leaving in the fourth quarter, and scored 20 points with 12 assists and 8 rebounds.
Russell Westbrook says he dislocated his finger. “Shit hurt,” he said. “But I’ll be alright.”
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 7, 2021
He said he doesn’t know if he’s going to miss any time.
Russ’ injury sort of overshadows the performance from Bradley Beal, who dropped a season-high 60 points in the loss. Beal had 32 at halftime and 50-plus heading into the fourth quarter before going cold. If Westbrook is going to miss any time, we get 2019-20 Beal back! Last season Beal was one of the top scorers in the League. That sentiment still holds true, but Westbrook obviously takes some usage and shots away from Beal. The other player who stands to benefit is Ish Smith, who could end up starting at PG in place of Westbrook.