Key Sacramento Kings Player Suffers Ankle Injury In Practice
The Sacramento Kings are back in the NBA Playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons and they will begin their first-round series against the Golden State Warriors, the defending champions, on Saturday, April 15.
To get past the Warriors, the Kings will need to give it their all and have all of their players available, but on Wednesday, a key player in their starting rotation suffered an ankle injury.
According to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee, veteran forward Harrison Barnes tweaked his ankle at the end of Wednesday's practice and did not practice with the team on Thursday.
Anderson did note though that Barnes is expected to play in Game 1 against Golden State on Saturday.
He may not be the top scorer on the team, but Harrison Barnes has been an impact performer for the Kings all season long because of how well he plays his role.
A key member of the Warriors' championship run during the 2014-15 season, Barnes played in all 82 games this season for the Sacramento, averaging 15.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 47.3 percent from the floor and 37.4 percent from three-point range.
Barnes made a total of 132 three-pointers this season, marking the seventh consecutive season in which he has made at least 100 threes. His 132 total threes also ranked fourth on the Kings this season behind rookie Keegan Murray, De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk.
It may not be good news that Barnes tweaked his ankle, but his injury does not seem too serious and as of right now, all indications point towards the veteran being available for Game 1 on Saturday against his former team.
The Kings will likely list Barnes on their injury report on Friday.
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