OAKLAND, Calif. — A bad string of injuries throughout this preseason might have gotten much worse for the Thunder when second-year forward Jeff Green left Saturday night’s 122-102 loss to the Golden State Warriors with a sprained left ankle.
Green, who rolled the same ankle midway through the third quarter Wednesday against Minnesota, is listed as day-to-day, but coach P.J. Carlesimo said Green “is very much a concern.”
Kevin Durant also rolled his left ankle late in the game but said the minor tweak is not serious.
“The No. 1 priority will be to figure out who’s healthy and who can play Monday,” Carlesimo said.
The list will be short.
Desmond Mason and Joe Smith sat out Saturday after both were injured Friday against Sacramento. Mason sustained a knee contusion when he bumped knees with Kevin Martin while trying to take a charge on the Kings’ guard. Smith left Friday’s game late in the fourth quarter with a fractured nose when teammate Russell Westbrook inadvertently elbowed him in the face.
Carlesimo ruled Smith out for Monday, and Smith said he will need to wear a protective facemask for the next few weeks.
This after the Thunder entered the preseason already forced to overcome injuries to Robert Swift (hand), Mo Sene (knee), D.J. White (jaw) and Kyle Weaver (groin), none of whom have played this preseason. White is expected to miss the next four to six months.
Green suffered Saturday’s injury 25 seconds before the half when he landed awkwardly while leading a three-on-one break with Durant and Westbrook. He was taken to the locker room during a timeout but returned to the bench four minutes into the third quarter still in uniform although walking with a noticeable limp.
After bouncing back from a 1-for-7 shooting performance in Wednesday’s opener with a 19-point outburst Friday against the Kings, Green played just 14 minutes and finished with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting.
The Thunder topped 100 points for the first time this preseason but shot just 38.6 percent and had 23 turnovers, bumping its total to 60 over three games.
Damien Wilkins scored a game-high 23 points in 34 minutes. Durant scored 16 points with 14 rebounds but missed 12 of 16 shots and committed six turnovers. Chris Wilcox and Westbrook scored 15 points apiece off the bench. Westbrook, however, struggled with turnovers for the third straight game, committing five to give him 13 in three games.
“It’s a lot of the mistakes we’ve seen before so it’s just very disappointing,” Carlesimo said. “It just tells us we’re not as far along as we thought. You can’t overreact, but there were just too many things that were unacceptable tonight.”
Carlesimo always points to defense first, and Saturday’s game was the Thunder’s worst showing thus far. The Warriors shot 48.5 percent and toyed with the Thunder with an unstoppable inside-outside game.
In what’s developed into an alarming two-game trend, DeMarcus Nelson became the second undrafted rookie guard to have his way with the Thunder’s backcourt, scoring 18 points with seven assists, four rebounds, four steals and only two turnovers.
One night earlier, Kings guard Bobby Brown scored a game-high 22 points with four assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Marco Belinelli matched Nelson’s efforts by scoring 22 points, hitting three of six 3-pointers while adding six assists, three rebounds and two steals. Forwards Al Harrington and rookie Richard Hendrix combined for 29 points and 22 rebounds to lead the Warriors inside attack.
“I think we had too many lapses on the defensive end and that is what really hurt us,” said Durant. “We didn’t get it going off the start tonight. We have to bounce back better than we did tonight. We just have to come out and compete better.”
