Heading into Tuesday’s practice, all focus was centered around the avulsion fracture De’Aaron Fox had suffered on his left index finger in game four. In today’s post-practice media session, Fox shared what his splint looks like and how he’s feeling as well as his intention to play in Game 5. Coach Mike Brown said that Davion Mitchell would start in his place if he’s unavailable, and Mitchell gave his perspective.
Many assumed that Fox suffered the fracture around the 4:31 mark of the fourth quarter in game four, but Sacramento’s star point guard clarified the exact timing of the injury at today’s practice.
De’Aaron Fox clarified at practice today that this is the play where he suffered the avulsion fracture on his left index finger.
He said the play with Looney was just when he actually felt it. pic.twitter.com/bo7u2ais5T
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) April 25, 2023
Following that moment, Fox played the entire final 6:30 of gametime. “Adrenaline was pumping so I was fine for the rest of the game,” Fox said. “After the game is when it really started to swell up and I started to feel it.”
Fox said that handling the ball felt fine today, it was more about how he felt shooting. “The big thing for me was could I feel the pad of my finger,” Fox said. “You want to be able to feel the ball on your fingers. So, that was the big thing for me and it’s protecting what it needs to protect, so it’s been fine.”
Pain tolerance is going to be what it comes down to for Fox. He admitted that the painkillers help with that and laughed while sharing that hitting that finger on his steering wheel yesterday was not the most enjoyable experience. Fox said he expects it to get hit throughout the course of the game, “but at this point in the season something hurts anyway, so you pay through the pain. There’s no excuses coming from this way.”
Here’s a view of the splint that De’Aaron Fox has on his left index finger that’ll be very similar to the one he’ll wear tomorrow.
He plans to play tomorrow in game five. pic.twitter.com/MhZYsP5L7w
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) April 25, 2023
Fox has played through limitations previously in his career. He’s come back sooner from injuries than what the initial timeline presented and proven that he clearly wants to be out there with his team, which one assumes is only heightened in his first postseason appearance.
“I thought that it would hurt a bit more than it does right now, so I’m very optimistic about tomorrow,” Fox said. “As long as the pad on my finger is fine then I feel like I’m good to go.”
Coach Brown did share that if De’Aaron Fox is unavailable, which seems unlikely, that Davion Mitchell would be the one to step into that starting unit just like he did earlier in the season.
“It is what it is. Injuries are part of it,” Coach Brown said. “You got to do what you can to deal with them as best you can but the next guy has to be ready to step up in case something does happen.”
Fox is confident that he will be good to go for tomorrow, but there is not way to tell how he will feel throughout the course of a game in what has been an extremely physical series. There may end up being more reliance on Mitchell, but their backup guard thinks it goes beyond himself.
“Everyone has to step up, not just me,” Mitchell said. “[Fox] does a lot of things for us. Assists, play defense, score the ball, so it’s kind of a team effort.”
De’Aaron Fox’s importance to Sacramento’s roster is obvious. He deservedly won the inaugural Clutch Player of the Year Award thanks to his elite creation ability for himself and others off the dribble.
There are things that Sacramento need to clean up heading into game five in Golden 1 Center on Wednesday night, but it sounds like All-Star De’Aaron Fox will almost certainly be good to go. We’ll have to see how much the physicality of the game has an impact on his finger throughout the course of action.
Len will be the official hand breaker tomorrow.
I never root for injuries or hunting for them… but if Len watched some Zaza “highlights” I might be in the comments defending him making a basketball play… 😉
DeAaron and Damontas are two tough guys. And I expect either way, Davion will step up and have a great game on both ends of the court.
Thanks for the link to the play, Brenden.
I love how Fox pleads his case with the ref:
” So, you know how that guy just slammed his arm down on me so hard that it broke my finger?… so, you didn’t think that was a foul?”
Semi related; has anyone noticed how at the slightest contact, some of the Warriors throw their heads back like they were just hit or shoved? I saw DiVincenzo and Poole both do this at least once last game.
they learned from stephie– how to look like you have been tasered.
They do the head throw-back a lot, part of their plan to get fouls called. It has been fun to see them protest when the refs don’t fall for it.
To be fair, Fox does this some too but not to the same extent. It’s part of the NBA now, lots of players do it but some are better than others.
I feel like Fox only tries because he has so many missed calls on him. He has to try to sell it in order to get to the line with the beatings he takes inside
The specific DiVincenzo play I am referring to, he did not even have the ball. He was running up the court with Monk, I believe, and there was incidental contact and he just throws his head back.
Between that and what I’ve seen from their other guards; they seem to be foul-baiting as much as playing basketball; which is sad because the refs seem to be giving them some of those calls.
I really hope there is a hometown whistle. And the refs don’t just had the Warriors the series simply because they are the champs and have been here before.
If you lose because they beat you, then you live with it. If you lose because the other team consistently gets benefit of the doubt foul calls, it is upsetting.
Davion getting fouls for Poole losing the ball into his face is just one example.
Let them play.
Yeah, I agree with you that I hope the refs don’t buy it and for a good portion of games so far they haven’t. Yes, they seem to call more of them when Steph and Klay do it but there are several that they aren’t calling as well. I don’t remember which quarter it was, but in game 4 Steph tried to draw a foul by jackknifing his body while shooting a three. It was such an awkward, unnatural wild shot that still managed to go in, but he glared at the ref for not calling a foul on top. I think it was Davion guarding him, didn’t touch him at all it looked like on replay.
Either way, it’s part of what players do now in order to get the refs to bite. Stars do it a lot, so roleplayers try too. I think the Dubs are just used to getting a lot of fake calls going their way that they are going to argue every little contact in order to get the next one called. I’m also hopeful that there’s a little hometown whistle, but usually, it works more toward the team that is more aggressive at getting to the rim early, if anything.
Best thing the Kings can do is get a lead and just bury them, don’t give them a chance to climb back in.
Celtics must take a course in “foul acting” and Warriors are tight there with them.
Steph falls every play, Poole does as well, even worse.
and nobody, I mean nobody, who does this, gets right back up if they call the whistle. They lay motionless like they’ve been laid out (with their head down so you can’t see them smiling) and wait for a teammate to tell them it’s okay, you can get up now.
Of course – sometimes they DO get laid out.
The Chris Paul influence.
“Continuation” in today’s NBA = 4 minutes before contemplating the shot.
Davion is right, everyone needs to step up, not just him. If Keegan plays like he did last game I still like our chances. If Huerter and Monk play their games too, even better.
While the world has already decided who wins the series, we were a Barnes 3 away from being back up at 3-1. It’s not like they kicked our butts like they did in game 3. Playoffs baby, we need this one at home. Best of 3 now. Hopefully the fans bring the energy for them.
Murray started to play last game but he is a rookie not like Huerter who has been there and has not played well at all during the playoffs. He needs to step up. The other player I have been disappointed in is Sabonis. I thought he was an all star but hasn’t showed he is so far. His stats are way down, he misses too many inside shots and turns the ball over too much. I also think Barnes needs to show us more than a couple of baskets during the game. He is probably the best driver we have and needs to get to the free throw line more often. Other than that I think we are allright.
Let’s get that beam LIT tonight. Let’s retake that loudest indoor stadium record ladies and gents (now owned by University of Kentucky, 2017).
*Picard Voice*: Let’s make sure history never forgets the…2023 Kings Season.
Harvey Out.
What’s the over/under for how many minutes it takes Draymond Green to slap his finger?
link fail…
how do you embed links again to show memes?
Just paste the link in the comment box.
And the over/under on how many times Green goes after Fox’s hand.
I have no idea when he will slap Foxy’s hand but I’d bet money that he starts trying to hit Fox’s hand during the first minute of the game
Team Game – Team Win/Team Loss
I believe!
The backup PG position would be the issue. Dozier?
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