He’s essentially missed the past five games, all losses for the Seattle SuperSonics.
A few of his teammates have suggested his presence might have been the difference in a few of those setbacks.
But tonight power forward Chris Wilcox will get a chance prove how much of a difference maker he is, as Wilcox returns to Seattle’s lineup tonight when the Sonics host the Los Angeles Lakers at KeyArena.
Wilcox said after finishing a scrimmage-heavy practice on Sunday that he’s ready.
“My conditioning is straight,” Wilcox said after practice. “I thought I was going to be worse than what I was. But I went through a full practice, no subs, ran up and down and made sure that I was good. So I think I’ll be OK for (today).”
Wilcox dislocated his right pinkie finger early in the game at Phoenix, and has not played since Jan. 3.
Seattle has struggled offensively since Wilcox, the second-leading scorer on the team at 13.3 points a contest, went out. The Sonics shot 38.7 percent from the field in their past five games.
Point guard Earl Watson said Wilcox is important because he’s a guy who creates energy and momentum-changing plays in transition for Seattle, helping the Sonics get some easy buckets.
“It will be interesting to see how our game changes with Chris (Wilcox) back because he puts so much pressure on the defense running the court,” Watson said.
Wilcox echoed Watson’s sentiments.
“The last two games that I’ve seen we make one or two passes and everybody starts to watch,” Wilcox said. “So hopefully tomorrow we can get the ball moving around and everyone can play together.
“We definitely have got to run the floor. That’s the type of team we are. When we run the floor we’re a better team; we kind of struggle when we get into a half-court set.”
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