The Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday suffered a major blow to their title hopes as their best inside defender, power forward Serge Ibaka, will miss the rest of the playoffs after injuring his left calf during their game 6 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
In a statement quoted by ESPN, Thunder general manager Sam Presti said: "I just want to express our disappointment for Serge, who, as we all know, is an elite competitor and someone that has proven to be a tremendous teammate. He was playing great basketball throughout the season. He's had a huge impact on our season to date."
The team said that Ibaka's injury is a Grade 2 strain of the plantaris, which will take substantial time to mend due to a high rate of re-injury. Presti said that it is unlikely that Ibaka will make it back to the lineup even if the team wins the Western Conference Finals over the favored San Antonio Spurs.
Ibaka is undeniably the Thunder's best defender with averages of 12.2. points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. His absence will also make the Thunder thinner in the frontcourt with veteran Kendrick Perkins and rookie Steven Adams expected to give Tim Duncan opposition down low.
This marks the second straight year that the Thunder will have to deal with an injury to a key player. Last year, their All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook had a torn ACL injury during their first-round series match-up against the Houston Rockets. Although the Thunder survived the Rockets, they were eliminated by the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round.
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