MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo suffered a torn right Achilles simply over a minute into Saturday’s Game 4 towards the Denver Nuggets, a group supply advised The Athletic.
His absence strikes a mighty blow for the Timberwolves, who depend on DiVincenzo for a mess of contributions.
DiVincenzo took a deep 3-pointer on the 10:44 mark. It banged off the rim towards the left sideline. DiVincenzo, from a stationary place whereas watching the flight of the ball, instantly took off to chase down the rebound. He planted with his right foot then instantly fell to the hardwood, grabbing at his heel.
It wasn’t obvious he was injured till, whereas seated on the court docket, he yelled for the coaching employees to come back attend to him.
The Timberwolves gathered round DiVincenzo, recognizing the potential seriousness of his harm. He was helped off the court docket, protecting his right foot off the bottom. But when he received close to the bench, DiVincenzo defiantly completed the stroll to the locker room below his personal energy.
DiVincenzo averaged 13.4 factors, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and a pair of.3 steals by means of the primary three video games of the sequence. He’d additionally proved to be one of the Timberwolves’ finest outdoors shooters, making 11 of 22 from behind the arc.
He’s a key perimeter defender, giving Minnesota flexibility with matchups and lineups, and likewise an enormous half of their transition sport, which his hectic and aggressive model of play fueling the Timberwolves’ method.
He began and performed all 82 video games for the primary time in his profession. His 30.4 minutes per sport have been additionally a profession excessive.
In 2021, when a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, DiVincenzo suffered a torn ligament in his left ankle, inflicting him to overlook the rest of the playoffs.
Minnesota entered the sport main the sequence 2-1.
