Amid the Thunder’s beatdown of the Phoenix Suns, one of its top guards in Cason Wallace left early due to injury.
Early in the third quarter, Wallace took a hard screen from Suns center Mark Williams, and immediately began favoring his head. A few seconds later he would issue an intentional foul, promptly checking himself out of the game and entering the locker-room.
Wallace is amid a career year, averaging 8.4 points on 44% shooting from the field, leading the league with 2.3 steals per game. On a team that has Luguentz Dort and Alex Caruso, Wallace has looked like the best and most consistent perimeter defender this season, and is potentially coasting to an All-Defense selection alongside a few teammates.
There’s been no official update on Wallace thus far. Prior to his exit, he had nine points on 4-for-5 shooting, with four rebounds, two assists and a whopping four steals. He’s unlikely to return to tonight’s contest due to the nature of the blowout.
The Thunder are currently amid a rout of the Suns, which would sent them to an NBA Cup semifinal bout versus either the Lakers or Spurs. Should they win that, they would again go to the NBA Cup’s final, where they were blown out by Milwaukee last season.
At the end of the third quarter, the Thunder held a 110-72 lead. They shot 60% from the floor as a team through three frames, holding the Suns to just 38% shooting in total. Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren amassed for 52 points combined to that point.
With Wallace’s injury, OKC moves further away from having a fully healthy rotation, which it neared with the re-integration of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort and Caruso on Wednesday night.
Only Isaiah Hartenstein and Isaiah Joe were rotational players on the injury report coming into the game. Hartenstein is nearing his re-evaluation window, and Joe should make a return soon in dealing with a knee contusion.
Oklahoma City is currently 23-1 on the season, and just one game away from tying the Warriors’ record of a 24-1 start.
As of the start of the fourth quarter, Wallace has not returned to the Thunder bench.
