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Hornets' Kelly Oubre Jr. has surgery on left hand

Charlotte swingman Kelly Oubre Jr. is averaging a career-best 20.2 points this season.

Kelly Oubre Jr. has appeared in 35 games for the Hornets this season.

Charlotte Hornets guard Kelly Oubre Jr. underwent surgery on Thursday to repair a torn ligament in his left hand, the team announced.

Oubre has been dealing with a torn ligament in his left hand all season and will miss four-to-six weeks, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Oubre is averaging 20.2 points per game, a career-best, along with six rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 42.3% overall and 36.9% on 3-pointers. His 80 made 3-pointers lead Charlotte, and he ranks 20th in the NBA with 260 3-point attempts.

Injuries have sapped the Hornets all season as only Mason Plumlee and Jalen McDaniels have appeared in all 38 games so far in 2022-23. Perhaps the most notable injury of the season was to All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball, who missed the first 13 games of the season as he recovered from a left ankle sprain suffered in the preseason.

He made his season debut on Nov. 12 and played on Nov. 14 vs. Indiana before reinjuring the same ankle on Nov. 16. Ball then missed 11 more games before returning to the Hornets’ lineup on Dec. 14 against Detroit and has played in every game since then.

Charlotte (10-29) has the worst record in the NBA.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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