The Toronto Raptors announced that center Jonas Valanciunas had dislocated his left thumb in the team’s victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. After undergoing surgery, the Lithuanian big man will be out at least four weeks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic:
Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas underwent surgery on dislocated left thumb. He will be out at least four weeks.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 13, 2018
Valanciunas suffered the injury on a steal attempt by 2017 Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green. He immediately removed himself from the game and was soon diagnosed with a dislocated thumb:
JV injured his hand and was in some noticeable pain pic.twitter.com/wN99QumD0w
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) December 13, 2018
Valanciunas, who had become a staple in the Raptors’ starting lineup in recent years, had seen his starting role taken in favor of defensive stud and Most Improved Player candidate Pascal Siakam. However, Valanciunas still played a big role for the Eastern Conference-leading Raptors and was arguably in the Sixth Man of the Year race prior to the injury.
The seventh-year center has played more games for the Raptors than any other player since his rookie campaign in 2012-13 and had missed just seven games in the last two seasons. Valanciunas had played in each of the team’s first 30 games this season, putting up averages of 12.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists on 57.5 percent shooting from the field.
