Young big man Ivica Zubac has been one of the most pleasant surprises for the Los Angeles Lakers this season, and he has seen an uptick in minutes recently as a result.
However, on Saturday night against the Golden State Warriors, Zubac injured his finger and played through it for the final three quarters. His X-rays were inconclusive, and the center will go for an MRI on Sunday:
X-rays were inconclusive. He’ll get an MRI tomorrow https://t.co/CRhOAwJ613
— Bill Oram (@billoram) February 3, 2019
Zubac said that because the injury was to his non-shooting hand, he didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal:
Zubac said his finger injury occurred in the first quarter. Played the final three quarters through the pain. “It’s my left hand, so…”
— Bill Oram (@billoram) February 3, 2019
The 21-year-old finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes in what was a 115-101 loss. He went 5-of-11 from the floor.
On the season overall, Zubac is averaging 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds over 15.5 minutes per game while shooting 57.4 percent from the field and 86.4 percent from the free-throw line.
The Croatian was originally selected by the Lakers in the second round (32nd pick overall) of the 2016 NBA Draft.
He played in 38 contests during his rookie campaign, registering 7.5 points and 4.2 boards across 16.0 minutes a night while making 52.9 percent of his field goal attempts and 65.3 percent of his free throws.
Then, last year, Zubac appeared in 43 contests, recording 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds through 9.5 minutes per game, connecting on 50.0 percent of his shots and 76.5 percent of his foul shots.
His rise this season began last month, when he ended up averaging 11.5 points and 5.9 boards over 17.4 minutes per game while shooting 59.3 percent from the floor and 86.5 percent from the charity stripe.
The Lakers fell to 27-26 after the loss to the Warriors.
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