Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka will miss the remainder of the 2014 NBA postseason with a strained left calf injury, the team announced on Friday.
Ibaka suffered the grade 2 calf strain during Oklahoma City’s series-clinching game six win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.
“We are obviously disappointed for Serge, as he is a tremendous competitor, and we know how badly he wants to be on the court with his teammates,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said in a statement on Friday.
“At this point it is important that our team directs its concentration and energy towards preparation and execution for our upcoming series. As with all teams, our group has confronted different challenges. It is our collective experience that we will call on to ensure that we play to our capabilities.”
Presti elaborated further on the injury during a conference call, saying that “The recovery process is lengthy because the re-injury risk is exceptionally high” and “It will be highly unlikely that he would return if we were fortunate to make it past this next series.”
The loss of the Ibaka, who averages 15.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game and is easily the teams best defensive player, is a tremendous blow to the teams chances in their upcoming Western Conference finals matchup against the San Antonio Spurs. His rebounding and dominant defensive presence in the middle will definitely be hard to make up for.
Reserve big men Nick Collison and Steven Adams will have to step up and take on a much bigger role for Oklahoma City to have any chance of beating the Spurs and making it back to the NBA finals for the since 2012.
For more on sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
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