Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter suffered a right ankle sprain in the third quarter of Thursday night’s 103-92 road loss to the Detroit Pistons. Wizards coach Scott Brooks said after the game that X-rays were negative.
Porter was defending Pistons swingman Stanley Johnson when the injury occurred.
Injury Update: Otto Porter Jr. (sprained right ankle) doubtful to return tonight #WizPistons
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) March 30, 2018
Per Candace Buckner of The Washington Post, Porter did not sound overly concerned about his injury after the game:
Less than four minutes had expired in the third quarter when Porter, defending Pistons forward Stanley Johnson, rolled his right ankle. As Johnson made a spin move, he then inadvertently stepped on Porter’s right foot and caused the Wizards forward to fall. Porter, who played just 16 minutes and finished with seven points, exited with what team officials called a sprained right ankle and did not return.
“I kind of took it twice,” Porter said of the ankle twist and the additional step by Johnson. “But I’ll be fine.”
After undergoing an X-ray that came back negative for anything more severe, Porter called the injury a “small tweak” and said he would talk to the trainers Friday to see whether an MRI exam would be necessary. Still, as he was helped off the Little Caesars Arena floor, Porter joined the ever-expanding Eastern Conference injury list with the playoffs looming.
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Although Porter does not carry all-star status, he has been as instrumental in helping the Wizards maintain a playoff seeding without John Wall.
This season, Porter is averaging career-highs in points (14.7), rebounds (6.5), assists (2.1) and steals (1.6) per game while shooting 43.4 percent on 3-pointers.
After last night’s loss, the Wizards (41-34) are No. 6 in the Eastern Conference and 3 1/2 games behind the No. 5-seeded Indiana Pacers.
