Spurs' De'Aaron Fox Appears to Reaggravate Ankle Injury After Dort Dives For Ball

SAN ANTONIO -- In Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, Spurs All-Star point guard De'Aaron Fox appeared to reaggravate the right ankle injury that kept him out of the first two games of the series against the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

It happened in the third quarter as Thunder forward Lu Dort dove after a loose ball and hit the leg, a similar play to the one that initially injured the ankle during Game 4 in Minnesota in the previous round. Fox said after that play that it was on the side of the ankle, and the team is calling the injury a sprain.

Spurs down by 11 heading to the fourth

De’Aaron Fox back to the locker room after this dive by Lu Dort

Fox missed the first two games and was listed as questionable with an ankle sprain he suffered on a similar play in Minnesota in Game 4 pic.twitter.com/wmJUbRfemv
— Tom Petrini (@RealTomPetrini) May 23, 2026

Fox stayed down on the floor in some pain as play continued, and hobbled to the bench before briefly heading to the locker room during the break between the third and fourth quarters. He checked back in with 10:27 to play in the fourth, and immediately got a bucket and an assists as San Antonio attempted to come back. He played a couple of short stints in the final period.

"It's a tough injury that he wouldn't be playing with in the regular season," Mitch Johnson said recently. "He tried to tough it out in that Minnesota series, and then had an awkward landing, and so he re-aggravated it, and we just got to make sure that he's in a place that he can get out there and compete to the level that he would need to in the game."

Fox was clearly missed in the first two games of the series as Oklahoma City's tenacious defense keyed in on second-year guard Stephon Castle.

The Spurs normally have two of the three of Fox, Castle and rookie Dylan Harper on the floor at all times. Harper also came into this game listed as questionable after leaving the Game 2 loss early, and in Game 3 the Spurs spent a lot of time with only one of them on the floor.

"At all times we have two of us out there, and we're all able to play off of one another," Fox said in Minnesota. "We can all get to the basket, we all make our open shots, we facilitate for each other and other and other guys on the court, it just adds the dynamic of our team... Sometimes you play a team and they have one ball handler, and we're able to wear that guy down, and it makes it hard for that team. With us having three of them, it makes it pretty easy. We can take the pressure off of each other, we can try to take the pressure off Vic as well."

The Spurs wound up losing Game 3 123-108, and Fox led the team with a +/- of +9 in the loss. He finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists in the loss.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson did not have an update on Fox or Harper after the game, but acknowledged the toughness necessary to play through it.

"I'm sure they're beat up," Johnson said. "They're giving us everything they got, so it's commendable, just the fight that they have, and it's that time of the year where guys are playing with more than bumps and bruises, so just tip the cap and ask as much as they'd give."

"It pains me to see them in pain," Victor Wembanyama said after the game. "I trust that they're going to be healthy soon and come back. They should take care of their health... like we did Game 1, we're gonna have their back."

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