Pistons wing Ausar Thompson, who has missed the team’s past five games due to a right ankle sprain, has been upgraded to available for Sunday’s matchup with the Raptors in Toronto, tweets Hunter Patterson of The Athletic.
Thompson has started 56 of the 57 games he has played this season for the 48-18 Pistons and has been one of the leaders of a defense that ranks second in the NBA with a 108.8 rating.
While Thompson should receive serious consideration for an All-Defensive spot and may even show up on some Defensive Player of the Year ballots, he’ll need to stay healthy down the stretch in order to qualify. Due to low minute totals in several games, only 50 of his 57 outings count toward the 65-game minimum, so if he misses two of Detroit’s final 16 contests, he’ll fall short of that threshold.
We have more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (right knee soreness) has been upgraded to available for Sunday afternoon’s showdown with Oklahoma City, per the team (Twitter link). The Thunder, meanwhile, will get some reinforcements in their frontcourt for today’s matinee, with Isaiah Hartenstein listed as available after he missed three games due to a left calf contusion, tweets Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman.
- Out since February 26 with a strained right oblique, Sixers center Joel Embiid resumed individual on-court work this week and has a chance to return during the team’s upcoming road trip, according to head coach Nick Nurse (Twitter link via Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice.com). After hosting the Trail Blazers on Sunday, the 76ers will visit Denver on Tuesday, Sacramento on Thursday, and Utah on Saturday. Today’s game vs. Portland will be the ninth in a row that Embiid has missed.
- After initially being listed as questionable due to right calf management for Saturday’s game in Atlanta, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was downgraded to out, with his injury designation updated to a left ankle sprain. He’s considered questionable to play on Sunday vs. Indiana as a result of that sprain.