Next Game
Opponent: Golden State Warriors
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: KeyArena, Seattle
TV: None
Radio: KJR (950 AM)
Injury update: The Sonics shuffled their roster before Tuesday’s game, moving forward Vin Baker to the injured list with a bruised left knee and activating guard Shammond Williams. Williams had missed the first eight games of the season with a broken finger on his left (non-shooting) hand.
Baker’s injury is one of several that have hampered the Sonics through the first two weeks of the season.
“We have not had our whole roster together through training camp and definitely not this regular season,” said Sonics coach Nate McMillan.
Baker was hurt in the San Antonio game on Nov. 1 and has been bothered by pain and stiffness in his knee since. He played the first four games of Seattle’s recent East Coast road trip, then sat out Sunday’s finale at Washington. Despite his injury Baker has been productive for the Sonics, averaging 18.0 points and 7.9 rebounds a game. He scored 20 or more points in the four games he played on the recent road trip and had a season-high 12 rebounds at New Jersey on Thursday.
Baker’s injury is “a bruise, but there’s a lot of swelling,” McMillan said.
“They did see a little (internal) bleeding, which is a sign that something is wrong there and (team doctors) felt it would need some time to heal.”
Williams was injured in the preseason and has been limited to shooting and conditioning drills for nearly a month.
“He hasn’t practiced in four weeks,” McMillan said.
“He pretty much knows all the sets but he has not been playing with the team. … We’re going to try to get him some minutes, but right now we’re going to go with the rotation we’ve had and try to fit Shammond in there somewhere.”
Against Phoenix, Seattle was also without center Calvin Booth, who has a nagging ankle injury that kept him from playing the final three games of the road trip. Like Baker, Booth was in street clothes on the Seattle bench.
Rich Myhre
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