Diallo tweaks ankle in practice
LOS ANGELES — Injuries haven’t made it any easier on the Thunder's wing rotation.
Rookie Hamidou Diallo tweaked his left ankle Thursday toward the beginning of the Thunder’s practice at the Mo Ostin Basketball Center at UCLA. The 20-year-old was held out of the rest of the practice.
Diallo didn’t look overwhelmed in his NBA debut Tuesday against the Warriors, but his status is uncertain for Friday against the Clippers. Thunder coach Billy Donovan didn’t know the severity of the ankle injury, but said he it didn’t seem too severe.
Minus Andre Roberson, the rest of the Thunder players were in practice, including Russell Westbrook (knee) and Steven Adams (lower back soreness).
“He’s practicing some,” Donovan said of Westbrook. “He continues to get better, continues to do more and more. We’ll see how he’s feeling (Friday).”
Why Ferguson isn’t shooting
Noticeably missing from Terrance Ferguson’s preseason arsenal: Shot attempts.
The second-year guard took just eight shots in preseason, but shot a tidy 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from the field in three games. He was 0-of-2 in the Thunder’s loss to Golden State on Tuesday.
“We have two of the best scorers in the league in Russ and PG,” Ferguson said. “I’m not really focused on taking the ball out of their hands and getting the ball on that end, but really trying to make myself a presence on the defensive side.”
While the Thunder needs Ferguson to shoot in order to create floor spacing in the Thunder’s offense, Ferguson’s teammates need to find him on the fast break. The Thunder missed opportunities to throw Ferguson lobs in transition or hitahead passes on the wing off of Warriors turnovers.
The Thunder had just 10 fast-break points despite 21 Warriors turnovers.
“I don’t really focus on how much I score per game, how much (shots) I put up per game,” Ferguson said. “My main focus is whatever the coach tells me to do, whatever my game plan is, playing defense on Klay Thompson, KD, whoever I’m guarding, trying my best to stop them. The offense will come.”
Quotable
Donovan on Dennis Schröder, who had 21 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals against Golden State: “He’s done a good job. There’s always a fine line as a point guard. There’s always a fine line of going out there and being who you are as a player and being yourself, but also the responsibility of running a team. I thought he had a pretty good blend and mixture of both of those things, but he’ll keep getting better and improving as the season goes on. I think he can play better and I think he knows he can play better.”