Josh Giddey could “miss some time” with Hip soreness

The Oklahoma City Thunder finally saw their max contract all-star caliber point guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, return from injury following the NBA All-Star break. Their star rookie, Josh Giddey, carried the load in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s absence recording a stretch of three straight triple-doubles. The Thunder currently sit at 19-41, with a one-game winning streak following an overtime win in Indiana on Friday. The Bricktown Boys are 6 games back of the NBA Play-in tournament, and five games back of the worst record in the NBA. The OKC Thunder need to make up three games to fall within the bottom three in the league, giving them the best odds at the top overall pick (14-percent).

The celebration from OKC Thunder fans having their dynamic duo back in action was short-lived…one game. Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played on Thursday against the top-of-the NBA Phoenix Suns, before Giddey was held out of Friday night’s home-road back-to-back with hip soreness.

On Thursday, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey played 34 and 36 minutes respectively, with SGA pouring in 32-points, five assists, two rebounds, and shooting 59-percent from the floor. Josh Giddey contributed 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals, on 46-percent shooting. Two of Giddey’s six assists were due to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander buckets against the defending Western Conference Champions. Without Giddey, the max contract guard followed Thursday up with another 30-plus point night (36) against the Pacers in an overtime win.

Despite the record, fans were geared up for the final 24 games of the season to see how this pairing would develop in their first year together. Despite the pre-draft expectations, Josh Giddey has become a blue-chip prospect that you can build a championship team around if you are Sam Presti. Pairing him with an already all-star caliber bucket getter like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should be a dream come true, but fans are already panicking about their long-term fit together. The last leg of the NBA season could have gone a long way in switching from panic to praise around Bricktown.

Mark Daigneault says Josh Giddey “could miss some time” with a hip injury after practice on Sunday

The Oklahoma City Thunder had Saturday off following their Friday night overtime win on the second night of a back-to-back, a game Josh Giddey missed due to Hip soreness. The team returned to the practice floor on Sunday afternoon and afterward bench boss Mark Daigneault met with the media.

Mark Daigneault promptly ruled out Josh Giddey for Monday’s contest against the Sacramento Kings, and added “that could be longer than tomorrow, he could miss some time.” The Oklahoma City head coach had no further updates on Lu Dort, Kenrich Williams, Ty Jerome, or Mike Muscala who are all also dealing with injuries and rookie Jeremiah Robinson-Earl remains out due to a foot injury.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a four-game week in store tipping-off Monday in the Paycom Center against the Kings, then a one-game road trip to Denver for a game against the Nuggets on Wednesday, and they end the week with two home games on Friday against the Timberwolves, and Sunday against the Jazz.

Without anything concrete, it is hard to guess when Giddey will return from his hip soreness injury. Though it is clear why Oklahoma City Thunder fans are so anxious, they want to see how the backcourt of the future looks. After all, we have only seen 1,924 possesions of basketball between the two. While this end of the season stretch will not define the duo one way or another, it could put some minds at ease if the two get to share the floor more.