Pokusevski’s Return Could be the Key to OKC Playing in the Postseason

Aleksej Pokusevski was off of the injury report and available for the Thunder on Friday night, and his return he could be key.

Oklahoma City is getting reinforcements to their interior rotation at the most crucial time of the season.

Aleksej Pokusevski is officially back on the Thunder bench, after missing a lengthy stretch with a knee injury, and was available for action Friday night. The Thunder did not list him on the injury report, though Mark Daigneult did not play Pokusevski in the Thunder’s loss to the Lakers he was available if needed.

Interior depth has been the main issue for OKC for most of the season, and Pokusevski’s return helps mend that, despite the Thunder still being undersized in the NBA, generally. Pokusevski provides immediate support to the Thunder who have had to continued to play small ball during his absences. While it has worked, OKC is within striking distance of making the Play-In game, and the more depth and size the better.

Pokusevski has averaged 8.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in his 45 appearances this season, but ankle and knee injuries have cost him time throughout the season. Though, when he has been in the lineup, he has shown a lot of improvement and continues to play himself into the rotation. He’s playing more minutes than he’s played his previous two seasons with the Thunder and has started in 28 of his 45 appearances.

His return gives the Thunder another possible starter and more length and ability to defend the rim. If the Thunder do squeeze into the postseason, depth will be crucial and adding a seven-footer back into the mix certainly won’t hurt their rotation. With Jaylin Williams handling most of the center duties and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl seeing little to no time on the court, Pokusesvski should be able to immediately impact the team and find a spot back in the rotation.

With less than 10 games remaining there's not many better times for a team to get key players back from injury, and the Thunder got a major piece back off the injury report and it could pay dividends to close the year. 

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