Hornets Marvin Williams, Nicolas Batum back from injury, can fill in for P.J. Washington
The Charlotte Hornets will get reinforcements Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings, as they adapt to losing starting power forward P.J. Washington.
Marvin Williams and Nicolas Batum, who both missed the recent three-game road trip with injuries, scrimmaged Monday and say they expect to play against the Kings. Williams was out five games with a sore right knee. Batum missed three games with left hand soreness, related to the finger he broke in the season-opener.
Williams’ return could be particularly important with the Hornets losing rookie Washington to a finger he broke Friday against the Chicago Bulls. Washington had hand surgery in New York on Monday, and is out for the Kings game. The Hornets haven’t released a timeline for Washington’s recovery, but he appears likely to miss several more games.
Williams was the Hornets’ starting power forward the previous four seasons. So he’s a logical fit to pick up much of the 29 minutes Washington averaged the first 28 games, all starts. Williams said that after testing his knee Monday, he should be able to handle whatever coach James Borrego needs.
“I can play for sure,” Williams said following the team’s shoot-around. “I had a great practice yesterday — a lot of contact. I’m a little sore this morning, but I feel good. Whatever coach wants to do (minutes-wise), my body feels like it can take.”
Williams is in his 15th NBA season. He knows when his knee acted up — in the second half of the Dec. 6 loss to the Brooklyn Nets — but he doesn’t remember anything causing the injury.
“I was playing defense (on the Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie) and then the next minute I couldn’t put pressure on my knee. It was one of the most bizarre things I feel like I’ve had. I don’t remember doing anything. It just swelled and locked up,” Williams said.
“The MRI showed a little bit of old age ... but nothing major.”
Batum missed 11 games after fracturing the middle finger of his left hand in the season-opener Oct. 23. He’s now re-injured his hand twice. Like Williams, he tested his injury in the scrimmage Monday. The Hornets upgraded him from doubtful to questionable for Tuesday’s game.
Batum can also compensate for Washington’s absence by adding depth at small forward. That could make it easier for Miles Bridges to shift over to power forward from small forward.
The issue is whether Batum will keep aggravating the injury.
“Until you have an injury, you don’t realize how much you use that part of your body,” Batum said of his non-shooting hand. “The way I have to guard guys, my finger keeps getting turned back a lot.”
Batum said he felt a crack of his injured finger during the Dec. 10 game against the Washington Wizards. He sat out the next three contests.
“You might go back for two games and then miss another game because my hand is not strong enough,” Batum said. “I can’t really grab anything (when the injury acts up). I can’t really push someone. You need two hands to play basketball.
“I heard a crack again. That’s the difference” as far as sitting out. “It feels like electricity goes through it.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 12:22 PM.
