More players injured in the Dallas camp as Christian Wood fractures his left thumb

The Mavericks can’t catch a break with injuries this season, as their foward Christian Wood now joins the medical list due to a broken left thumb during Wednesday’s game against Atlanta. 

The team announced yesterday that the wound is not on Wood’s shooting hand, and that he will be re-evaluated next week. But as for now, it’s almost certain he will miss multiple games in the coming weeks.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that Christian Wood has sustained a fracture of his left thumb.

Wood will be re-evaluated next week. pic.twitter.com/95exgxILBK

— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) January 19, 2023

The injury occurred during Dallas’ 130-122 loss to the Hawks on this past January 18th, as he flinched over the pain, but tried to hold it in during the rest of the match as his coach never benched him. This made us believe that the bruise wasn’t serious, until we were handed the medical report after the game.

That wasn’t the only reason that made us think the injury wasn’t significant, as Wood kept playing and produced a great performance. He scored 22 points, won 9 rebounds, delivered four assists and blocked the Hawks twice in 35 minutes of play. Watch some of his last game highlights in the YouTube link below:

The 27-year-old, who got transfered in a trade with the Rockets during this last summer transfer window, is averaging 18.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, only second in both departments to star Dončić. Wood came started the season of the bench as coach Jason Kidd gradually inserted him into the starting lineup just a couple of months ago.

Any news on his return is still unclear, all we know is Wood’s status will be monitored as early as Monday as a result as we hope to have more information next week.

What’s new in the Dallas hospital?

Ever since December started, the Dallas side have been dealing with many injuries blows to the team’s main defensive players and now will have to play without their second best scorer, only behind the NBA leader point Luka Dončić.

The good news was that after after a long absence the Mavericks had obtained Josh Green and Dorian Finney-Smith from injuries just ahead of their last defeat against the Hawks. In Finney-Smith’s case, he had missed a total of 14 games over a right adductor strain, as for Green was out for 20 due to an injured right elbow.

Dallas now have lost six of eight games since a seven-game winning run that was the longest since the franchise’s only championship season of 2010-11. Per a few of our recommended sport betting sites believe the Mavericks possess the 13th best odds to win the title this year. Do you believe the Lakers have a better chance than the Texan side?

Tim Hardaway Jr. is another player who’s been sidelined due to an ankle injury. Although he’s missed the Mavs’ previous two games, he is currently listed as questionable for Friday’s matchup against the Miami Heat. Watch the following Twitter post as he was seen getting shots up after yesterday’s practice:

Tim Hardaway Jr. getting some shots up after Mavericks practice. He has been sidelined for the previous two games due to an ankle injury. pic.twitter.com/DVjnXpsjJa

— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) January 19, 2023

Maxi Kleber is another soldier wounded in the Texan hospital. The player hasn’t played since December 12th but did update the press about his progress so far. Kleber explained that he was never too concerned that recovery from the injury would take him out for the rest of the season.

“Everything is going well so far as planned,” Kleber said. “Now we’re in a phase to do on-court stuff and just figure out how soon I can advance — jogging, change of direction, and stuff like that.”

The Mavs who stand 5th (24-22) in the West return to action on January 20th when they take on the Miami Heat at 6:30pm CST .