Good news for the Thunder ahead of Thursday night’s game against Houston.
Danilo Gallinari has been upgraded from out to questionable with a right calf contusion.
He had initially been ruled out of OKC’s matchup against Russell Westbrook and the Rockets, but according to Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman, he was upgraded just before 2 p.m. CT Thursday afternoon.
The Thunder has now upgraded Gallinari to questionable. https://t.co/w0M8qOrqEU
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) January 9, 2020
Gallinari missed Tuesday night’s win over the Nets in Brooklyn with the same injury.
The Thunder would certainly love to have Gallo in the lineup, if possible. He leads the team in three-point percentage this season, hitting on 39.2% of his shots beyond the arc.
He’s the team’s third-leading scorer behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder, and just his presence on the court stretches the defense because of his ability to put up points.
One player that will not be on the floor, however, is Nerlens Noel.
Noel is still sidelined with the left ankle sprain that he suffered in OKC’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 4.
The Thunder recalled Justin Patton from the OKC Blue prior to Tuesday’s game to help fill the void, however, Patton did not play due to a coach’s decision.
Russell Westbrook makes his return to Oklahoma City Thursday night, coming back to face the Thunder for the first time since being traded to Houston during the offseason.
Tip-off inside Chesapeake Energy Arena is at 8:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on TNT.