Brooklyn Nets guard Lonnie Walker IV won't play Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, according to the New York Post's Brian Lewis. The update comes after Walker was ruled out for Tuesday's road matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans despite hope that he would be able to return during the back-to-back.
The 24-year-old has missed Brooklyn's last 15 games due to a left hamstring strain. The team announced on December 20th that Walker was “progressing to playing 5-on-5 with the goal of returning to the lineup” the following week. Despite this, the 24-year-old has not taken the floor two weeks after the update.
After signing for the minimum this offseason, Walker led a Brooklyn bench unit that ranked eighth in the NBA in scoring before his injury. The former first-round pick is averaging a career-high 14.6 points per game on 48.9 percent shooting from the field and 43.3 percent from three. He leads the league in scoring among players averaging fewer than 24 minutes per night.
Walker is adding 9.4 points per 100 possessions to Brooklyn's offense, ranking first on the Nets and in the 94th percentile league-wide, per Cleaning The Glass. The team has struggled without his efficient three-level scoring off the bench, ranking 23rd in offensive rating during a 3-9 stretch over the last 12 games. Brooklyn ranks last in the NBA in effective field goal percentage (51.3) during that span, scoring 113.3 points per game on 45/35/74 shooting splits.
Walker's next chance to return will come when the Nets return home Friday to face the Oklahoma City Thunder before a Sunday matinee with the Portland Trail Blazers.
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