Sacramento Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox suffered a broken finger in Sunday’s game against the Golden State Warriors. Shams Charania was the first to report the news:
Sacramento Kings star De'Aaron Fox has suffered a fractured index finger in his left shooting hand, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Fox is expected to be listed doubtful to play in Game 5 vs. Warriors.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 24, 2023
The Kings All-Star guard is believed to have sustained the injury midway through the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Game 3 and played through it. Fox had 38 points, nine rebounds and five assists on Sunday. https://t.co/41yWneUTWo
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 24, 2023
Fox was able to finish Sunday’s game, so there’s a hope that Fox will be able to continue playing through the injury, but the index finger on your shooting hand is about as un-ideal as possible.
Kings guard De'Aaron Fox fractured the very tip of his left index finger in Game 4, but there's still hope he will try and play Game 5 on Tuesday, sources tell ESPN. Fox would need to play with a protective covering on the finger. He will be listed as doubtful.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 24, 2023
Fox has been incredible so far in the playoffs, averaging 31.5 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds per game. He’s carried the team for long stretches, and is a big reason the Kings’ series is tied 2-2.
The worst part of an injury like this is the what-if factor. If the Kings lose this series with Fox at less than 100%, we’ll always wonder what might have been.
The good news is that, as far as injuries go, a broken finger is pretty minor in the long run. It shouldn’t have any lasting impact into next season. It’s just such a bummer to have this kind of bad luck at this point in such a magical season.
What a bummer on what has been the most entertaining series thus far these playoffs. I think he will gut it out and play through it, but no doubt he’s gonna be compromised on both ends of the floor.
Fuck.
This
Shit.
Perfect. Exactly what I left room for. Knew I could count on the Dutchman
living below sea level can do that
We could really use the Dutchman’s finger at this time! If we have a hole at point guard we’ll need to clog it up.
Ha. And a very inside finger joke for people from Davis/lived there
….or Fox could use the finger on the joggers statue in downtown Davis, that had to be moved back from the sidewalk for fear of poking out the eye of a passerby.
draymoron poking Keegan’s eye- that danger?
Amsterdamn, … I can’t believe you want there!
I know what Brown is going to say here.
If Fox misses game five, or just can’t play through it, I hope we’ll see some Keon Ellis. He’s an excellent shooter and defender, and he can run the offense a bit, ideally with Sabonis also on the floor.
Next man up, to hell with the Warriors.
Kessler for the D. backup PG by committee.
Sorry but please no. You can’t throw him into this fire and expect anything but negative results. I like him a lot but he has zero experience of how this offense flows with the 7-8 man rotation Mike Brown is running out there.
In my opinion, if Fox can’t go you start Monk and put Terrance Davis in the Monk role off the bench.
Fire whoever is in charge of our Point Guard’s fingers.
Just cut that thing open, toss in some super glue, and seal it back up, amirite? At the very worst just Ronny Lott the thing.
That’s makes yesterdays loss even more painful. I think the Kings could’ve take 1 out of 3 without Fox but 2 is an uphill battle. Time for the team to step up and rally. Keon Ellis back up PG?
Highly doubtful Keon gets in the game. Think it will be more Davion and Monk minutes. If Huerter can play well then those 3 will probably see the minutes. Davis might pop in too, but he looked bad earlier in the series
🙁
God Damnit
I mean, yes. That’s applicable and appropriate. I have to say though, I am so far past being able to be disappointed this season, this isn’t even a blip.
I just witnessed Fox turn in to GD capital-S Superstar this season. All-Star. Inaugural winner of the CPOY (and it wasn’t even close). Probably the best season a Sacramento guard has turned in since the franchise arrived to Sacramento. His first playoff series? Laying it on the defending champions, rivaling Curry as the best player on the floor. His leadership is off the charts, I loved seeing him bark at Green. Fox is going to be one of the top five to seven guards in the NBA for the next few seasons and his contract is going to look like a bargain.
KEEGAN MURRAY. There are a lot of great guards in the NBA right now, almost a surplus. The center position is its strongest in a few decades. But wings? Every team in the league needs a skilled athletic wing who can shoot (De’Andre Hunter is making how much? RJ Barret? Enough said), and we have one with an exceptional attitude, work ethic, and his team loves him. AND HE SET A RECORD FOR THREE POINTERS. Would anyone be surprised if he is an All-Star in his 4th year? Is he Alex English with range? No ceiling in my eyes.
Sabonis is 26 and been searching for an NBA home. Fox is on track to be the greatest King ever. Keegan is under team control. Heurter is a bargain and locked up for several more years. Brown and McNair are locked up. Brown is one of the best liked and most well connected coaches in the league, there will always be talent on the bench assisting him. Monk is having his career year. They got a career year out of Lyles. Is Sacramento going to be a place players sign for the mid-level or exemption to set themselves up? A place veterans go compete in the playoffs?
Davion Mitchell. I have made a half dozen posts this year saying he was going to flip a switch and become one of the five most important players on the team. I thought it would happen in the regular season, thirty games ago really, but this series is his moment. That guy is just a weapon. He is going to be a top ten defender in the league for a while, and watching him find his offense is f*cking joyful. He is the kind of player that defines a teams identity.
As Rob likes to say, playing with house money right now. This season was thrilling. Everything in the playoffs is gravy. Every season fans had to squint as hard as possible to see a very narrow path to middling success. We are getting slapped in the face with evidence and receipts that there is an obvious and wide path to being a top Western Conference teams for the next five years at least.
I love NBA basketball, and win this series, lose this series, I am God Damn entertained, and have enjoyed this season more than any in my Kings fandom.
Go Kings.
Well there are two things:
1 – When it happened, it certainly wasn’t a Warrior foul, Fox probably did it to himself (I checked with social media and JJ Reddick and ESPN and the rest of the pundits)
2 – It’s only a finger. And as Domas has already shown us, having a broken finger isn’t a reason to not play.
“…having a broken finger isn’t a reason to not play.”
He has two whole days to heal!…Shouldn’t be a problem….
DAMN!
I remember seeing him holding his finger mid way in the 4th… curious if anyone has video of the play
Apparently happened on a play after a whistle…
https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1650583834726113281?cxt=HHwWgoDRzZTQhugtAAAA
He hit a mid-range jumper and two free throws within a minute of that play, but then went cold for about three minutes before hitting that 29-ft three pointer to get us within a point.
crazy as it looked to be incidental contact if that is where he fractured it
Y’up. Fox came up short after that. Which makes sense if the end of a finger (end of shooting motion) constricted.
Thank you, I did find it on Twitter and unfortunately had to go read all the dumb arse comments. I am blown away by some some of the things that people say; some warrior fans are saying it’s conspiracy, or that Curry has played with lots of injuries, even saw a thread where one fan said he deserved it for all the cheating they were doing. Twitter is a cesspool of ignorance.
It was multiple diff tweets not the one attached..
I saw it happen and thought it was just jammed. Hoped….
No matter what happens, Fox you are a superstar and I hope the NBA world sees more of you this playoff season. I think we can beat the Dubs if you need to sit out. Get well soon D-Fox!
If Fox sits, I think there’s a chance it galvanizes the rest of the team to show up and play smart, hard, & together.
Even if it results in a loss, I’m optimistic that this could create momentum that, should Fox return for Game 6, the team will be all the more ready for the series.
The next 2-3 games are gonna take a lot of guts. I think the Kings have it in them. Time to show it.
Davion Mitchell – Game time!
Band-Aid Monk and Red Velvet Huerter – we need you!
Terrence Davis?
If he’s out they could win with Davion/Monk replacement and Herter and Sabonis playing at their highest level.
Hahahaha, Monk should bring the band-aid back as a nod of respect for his injured homie. And then go off for 40
Bob Cousy, long before computers and stats always felt a team that loses a star player plays much harder and wins more games for about five games and then settles back into reality.
I hope Bob Cousy is correct
Amen
After a first surge of dismay, I think he’ll play and be more or less fine.
And if he won’t play, I’ll trust Brown and the team to fill the gap and find a way to stay competitive.
Go Kings. Give the Warriors the finger, broken or not!
With it tied at 2-2, the series is now best of three (fingers and a thumb)
Fingers crossed.
if he breaks another one, the Kings might go down double digits
Hopefully this doesn’t all mean a
thumb-ping of the Kings
My guess; he ends the game with one less point than he would have otherwise had.
Light the X-ray beam!
Starting Davion for extended minutes guarding Curry might not be such a bad thing. If Fox can play, maybe bringing Fox off the bench would do. Otherwise, Monk PG needs to show up.
This was my first thought.
I’d like to see Davion guarding Steph the whole game – 40 min did needed.
When Curry sits, Davion sits.
Chase that man around the gym and hound him the entire game.
That being said; my uneducated guess says Fox will gut it out and play.
Next man up!.
Domas needs to step up and score the damn ball
Huerter needs a kick in the ass
Monk has got to be more consistent
Barnes needs to figure shit out. He is the vet and has underwhelmed the whole series.
Barnes has played hard, but yeah he doesn’t look very offensively measured out there. Took two unnecessarily rushed outside shots in the 4th, including that last shot — he definitely could’ve done a pump fake & side step to get a more open look. That shot looked so bad coming out of his hands that I actually yelled “no!”
Uh oh. I’m guessing he’ll try to play & I’m hoping he can still play well.
The highs and lows for us Kings fans.
Probably explains why Fox lost the handle twice (?) on the last play of the game.
Good call, it certainly couldn’t have helped.
Yes, and why he came up short on shots
Jordan had the Flu game…
Fox will have the the finger game.
History in the making right here.
Poole has the floppy spine game. Every game.
I think there is a term for this behavior- frotage?
During the season, with Fox out, Mitchell played like a traditional run the play, distribute the ball PG, who took the shot if he was left alone and the play didn’t generate an open shot for someone else. He was fairly good at it.
For the Warriors, it will be a different look, and one that might generate more open shots for Sabonis and Huerter as they get the ball in rhythm.
One play by Mitchell stood out for me yesterday, He had the ball near the top of the key in the 4th, and the Warriors left the lane for him. Mitchell immediately attacked the basket without hesitation and scored. In other words, he executed what he had been coached to do without thinking about it. Murray played that way, too. All of the Kings will have to play that way on Wednesday.
I love how comfortable Davion is under pressure- in big games. He’s not rattled. Goes aggressive.
Sorry he has never ever played in a game of this magnitude. I like Mitchell. Expecting him to come in and the Kings don’t miss a beat. I think that might be a tad deluded.
NCAA title game was fairly high magnitude. Maybe not the same, but it provides some comparison. He crushed that March Madness too.
Didn’t say any of that. Not sure who you are replying too?
Davion has looked comfortable in these playoffs- big games.
The dude was the star player on the team that ran the table in the NCAA tourney. Has any other player on the Kings played in a single elimination game like that?
Tough break. Mitchell will probably fill in for Fox if he can’t go. I know a lot of you are high on Mitchell just stepping in a replacing Fox. Me, not so much. This is the Warriors. It’s much easier to guard Mitchell than Fox by a landslide. Defensively, it may be ok. But Curry is still the killer off ball. With Klay, Poole and Wigs on the floor as well. It’s going to be really tough assignment asking Mitchell to be the Alpha scorer. Especially when you’re expecting Huerter and Barnes to pick up the slack.
sorry, but Kings are not that deep. Losing Fox is losing your teams number one option and best player.
We have two all stars this year. One has played like an all star during the playoffs and one has not. If one can’t play then the other has to step up and prove me wrong. A lot of pressure on Davion but IMO he can handle the job. Two players who need to step up and play like champions are Barnes and Huerter and a little of Lyles. GO KINGS!
I don’t think anyone is expecting that. Fox’s 32 points per game will have to be replaced by more than one player. Davion is not Fox but he gives the Kings a shot, and the personnel changes will give Coach Brown a green light to throw some curve balls – different looks.
I’d want to see PnR with Sabonis and Mitchell until the cows come home. Force the Warriors to switch on Sabonis or go under the screen and give Mitchell the open 3. Just run some fundamental PnR.
Fox played okay with it to end the fourth and Sabonis has set the standard of pain tolerance. Plus whatever protective covering he wears will look great extended in the air after a win.
Fox is about to switch to his right hand and shock the world. Just you wait.
https://twitter.com/cameronsalerno1/status/1650625768232460291?s=46&t=LRRFdoSPcReEZERgnElWRA
It was a foul, but the Kings didn’t lose possession (though it resulted in another Barnes missed three, which hadn’t occurred to me). It’s probably not something that’s usually called in the last few minutes of a playoff game. There were way worse calls in the second and third quarters.
Wow. So every other series is going to 3-1.
Seems like this one should have been 3-1 also – to fit in with the in-crowd.
This team deserves to win. Sacramento deserves to win.
Use it as bait…switch to get Draymond…Draymond will try to go for that hand…get Draymond in foul trouble early.
draymoron usually goes for the head and the eyes or the “very lower abdomen” or the foot stomp. I guess he could adjust to going for fingers
Am I the only one who thought it was glaringly obvious he tried to poke Murray in the eye? The thumb acted so independently of the rest of his hand that it was clear he tried to put it in his eye.
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