A pair of former top-10 picks are expected to return to action on Wednesday night after somewhat lengthy injury absences.
One of those players is Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen, who has been sidelined since January 22 due to a stress reaction in his pelvis. According to the team (via Twitter), Markkanen will return to Chicago’s starting lineup tonight in Minnesota, making him the third frontcourt player in the last week to get healthy for the team — Wendell Carter and Otto Porter are also back in action.
More importantly for the playoff race, Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is being listed as probable for Wednesday’s game against Washington (Twitter link via Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com). Lillard has been out since injuring his groin on February 12. Including that game, Portland has gone just 2-5 since his injury, but the team remains in the postseason hunt, 3.5 games back of Memphis.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- The Hawks announced today in a press release that big men Clint Capela (foot) and Skal Labissiere (knee) continue to rehab their respective injuries and will be re-evaluated in two weeks. Both players were acquired at the trade deadline, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll see much -if any – action for Atlanta this season.
- In other Hawks-related injury news, swingman DeAndre’ Bembry, who is dealing with abdominal pain, has been cleared for non-contact work, head coach Lloyd Pierce said today (Twitter link via Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). Bembry, a potential restricted free agent this offseason, hasn’t played since January 20.
- Zion Williamson isn’t currently dealing with an injury, but the Pelicans have played it safe since he returned from knee surgery, opting not to play him in back-to-back sets. That’s expected to change tonight, with the No. 1 overall pick on track to play against Dallas after being active against Minnesota on Tuesday. Andrew Lopez of ESPN has the full story.
- During TNT’s Tuesday broadcast (video link), Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports cited league sources who say Nets star Kevin Durant is making good progress in his Achilles recovery and is doing some 3-on-3 work. Durant is on track to be ready for training camp in the fall.