After news broke that Kings star De'Aaron Fox will be listed as doubtful for Game 5 on Wednesday with a fractured finger, Sacramento fans certainly had plenty of questions on their mind.
How bad is the injury? In what ways can it be treated? And, most importantly, will Fox be able to play in the pivotal NBA playoff matchup against the Golden State Warriors at Golden 1 Center?
Stanford Medicine's Dr. Jeffrey Yao spoke with NBC Sports California on Monday and addressed those concerns, explaining how Fox's avulsion fracture of the index finger in his left shooting hand will impact the All-Star guard moving forward.
Yao detailed where Fox's injury is located -- in the distal phalanx bone, or the tip of his finger.
"It’s not uncommon for that bone to be injured, particularly with impact-type injuries to somebody’s finger, whether the ball impacts it or it jams up against another player," Yao said.
Fox sustained the injury during the fourth quarter of Sacramento's loss to Golden State in Game 4, and he appeared to hurt his finger with about four minutes remaining in the contest. Despite Fox's status as doubtful for Game 5, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday, citing sources, "there's still hope" Fox will play Wednesday.
If Fox does make it onto the court, how might his injury affect his level of play? Yao broke down how Fox's shooting and dribbling could be impacted by his broken finger -- but also noted there are ways Sacramento's medical team can help mitigate the pain should the guard attempt to play.
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"When a player takes a shot, the ball rolls off, usually, the index, middle and ring fingers, and so certainly any inability to bend or extend the finger can interfere with his ability to make a shot," Yao said. "Now, that being said, there are ways that we can help mitigate that, whether it’s immobilizing the bone and/or giving pain relieving medication to try to reduce the inflammation, reduce the pain of that joint. ...
"There’s many things that can be done depending on the severity and the location of the injury, but I do think that this will probably affect his ability to play."
A protective covering, such as a splint, could be used to immobilize Fox's broken finger in the event he does play, but Yao explained why it's somewhat of a catch-22.
"There are methods that can help immobilize the joint in the bone to allow it to heal, because without protection, the bone most likely will be painful for anybody, let alone for somebody who’s participating in a high-level sporting activity," Yao continued. "So, a splint can be supportive in that it provides rigid stabilization of the joint.
"The downside of that is that it will affect the range of motion, so if that terminal joint is not able to move, it may affect his ability to make a shot or to dribble the ball. So, it’s kind of a trade-off of trying to immobilize it to provide him with enough symptomatic support versus allowing him to maintain the range of motion of that joint to allow him to be effective when playing, shooting, dribbling, etc."
After the moment Fox appeared to sustain his finger injury in Game 4, the guard went on to play through the pain and scored seven points, including a clutch 3-pointer with 28.1 seconds left to pull the Kings within one point of the Warriors' lead. He also grabbed two boards with a broken finger.
How was Fox able to play through a broken bone? And, since he did, is his injury that serious? Yao laid out how athletes are able to play through pain, and why it doesn't necessarily mean they'll be able to play with the injury in the future.
"The reality is that these injuries can be relatively asymptomatic in the heat of things when patients are excitable and adrenaline’s pumping," Yao said. "Obviously this is a high-stakes game, and so even if there’s a little bit of pain, players can often play through it. But what ends up happening is once the game is over, the adrenaline dies down, the excitement dies down, then they’re left with the residual, which is a swollen and painful finger. And that can totally swell up, and it’s probably swollen up since the game and probably much more painful now than it was during the actual game.
"He was probably able to play through a minor amount of pain at that point, but moving on to the next game, I do think that pain will be a factor that the medical staff in Sacramento have to contend with … I wouldn’t expect his level of play to be exactly the same high level that it was before the injury."
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After his game-high 38 points in Game 4, along with nine rebounds, five assists and a steal, Fox leads the Kings in minutes (38.5), points (31.5), assists (7), steals (2.5), field goals made (11.5), field-goal attempts (25.8), 3-pointers made (3.3), 3-pointer attempts (9.5) and free throws attempted (7.5) per game in the playoffs.
Fox likely will do everything in his power to play against the Warriors on Wednesday with the opening-round Western Conference series tied at two games apiece, but his injury is a blow the Kings certainly can't afford as they look to eliminate the defending NBA champs.