Last night, the New Orleans Pelicans began a seven game home stand that head coach Alvin Gentry said would determine if the Pelicans would make the playoffs. Gentry told Tas Melas of NBATV’s ‘The Starters’ that if the Pelicans didn’t come out on top, the Pelicans could all but consider themselves eliminated. They got off on a good start with a solid road win over a tough, young Minnesota Timberwolves team but they also lost a player in the process.
Starting guard, Eric Gordon, suffered yet another injury in his NBA career. Gordon has been often injured throughout his NBA career and he’s yet to play over 65 games since his rookie season when he suited up for 78 games with the Los Angeles Clippers. He was off to a great start this year, not yet missing one game and starting 40 of the team’s 41 games through the midway point in the season
Last night in the win, Gordon left the game with a ring finger injury and it has been revealed that he may miss four weeks with a fractured finger.
Following from Scott Kushner of the New Orleans Advocate.
Guard Eric Gordon fractured a bone in the ring finger of his shooting hand, leaving him out for an undetermined amount of time, New Orleans Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said Tuesday night.
The Pelicans’ starting shooting guard was injured midway through the third quarter of New Orleans’ 114-99 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Smoothie King Center. He hasn’t missed a game this season, starting 40 of the team’s 41 games and logging at least 15 minutes in every game.
While the Pelicans wouldn’t give an official timetable, sources told The Advocate they expect Gordon to miss four weeks.
Gordon’s injury might be the driving force behind the Pelicans lifting any minutes restriction on Jrue Holiday and placing him in the starting lineup alongside Tyreke Evans.
The Pelicans are already without versatile forward Quincy Pondexter for what could be the remainder of the season and without Gordon, the Pelicans rotation thins in talent dramatically.
Gordon’s loss to injury is actually big for New Orleans. The Pelicans are six points per 100 possessions better when he is on the court this season and for his part, there has been a huge improvement on the defensive end. Gordon is averaging 14.9 points and 2.7 assists per game, is shooting 37.7 percent from three playing 33.4 minutes per game.
UPDATE:
The Pelicans formally announce that Gordon will miss 4-6 weeks.
The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that guard Eric Gordon underwent successful surgery this morning to repair his fractured right ring finger. Gordon sustained the injury during the third quarter of last night’s 114-99 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. His expected timetable to return is 4-6 weeks.
