Cleveland Cavaliers starting power forward Lauri Markkanen suffered a sprained right ankle in the first half of a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The angry winces of pain caused him to be quickly ruled out for the rest of the match.
The injury occurred with four minutes remaining in the second quarter. Markkanen tried to stop a layup from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and mishandled his right leg. In obvious pain as he clutched his ankle, Lauri stood under the basket as his concerned teammates closed in around him. The Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse went silent as the player was taken away.
Despite the obvious images of pain, x-rays have ruled out a bone break. According to Chris Fedor of cleveland.com, X-rays taken of his ankle came back negative. The feeling is that Markkanen has a bad ankle sprain. The organization is already preparing to be without him for a while.
Markkanen was in one of his best moments of the season. A game ago, against the Bulls, he achieved his best scoring mark of the course, with 28 points. The Finn is averaging more than 13 points and 5 rebounds per game, as well as being a key player for one of the revelation teams of the season.
(Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
