Russell Westbrook To Miss Playoffs Start, As Giannis gets 1 game ban

Ahead of the 2020 NBA Playoffs will start on Monday The Houston Rockets will be without Russell We in their first set of games.

Russell Westbrook sustained an injury that has made him miss out on three of Rockets’ four games, and an MRI scan on Wednesday revealed the extent of the injury.

His last game was against San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, where the Rockets lost albeit Westbrook scored 20 points and showed no signs of problems with the injury on his right leg.

Already, the quadriceps injury will see the 30-year-old miss Friday’s last seeding game against Philadelphia 76ers as well as the first round playoffs series where the Rockets will face Westbrook’s former team, Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 2017 MVP has averaged 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.0 assists in 57 appearances after a below pad start to the season.

Some of the confirmed Playoffs matches, seven out of eight as at the time of filing this report, will see Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder play against each other while Dallas Mavericks will play Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference, Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz will also face off.

The Eastern Conference playoffs will see Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers match up while Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers.

Meanwhile, reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has been handed a one-game ban for headbutting an opponent, Washington Wizards center Moritz Wagner on Wednesday.

He will not play when the Milwaukee Bucks play their last seeding game against Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. However, he will be available for the playoffs, which starts on Monday with the Bucks set to play against Orlando Magic.

The forward tendered an apology after the game regretting his actions.

“If I could go back, turn back time and go back to that play, I wouldn’t do it, But at the end of the day, we’re all human; we all make mistakes,” he said.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu