Gordon Hayward suffered an avulsion fracture of his fifth metacarpal on his right hand, ruling him out for Thursday’s preseason game against the Orlando Magic, the Hornets announced on Wednesday. The injury occurred in Monday’s game against the Toronto Raptors. Hayward will be listed as day-to-day moving forward.
Through two preseason games, Hayward is averaging 12.5 points, on 56.3% shooting from the field in 21.7 minutes per game. In Tuesday’s game, Hayward played 24 minutes and scored 14 points.
Hayward signed with the Hornets this off-season on a four-year, $120 million contract. Last season with the Boston Celtics, Hayward averaged 17.5 points on 50% field goal shooting in 52 games.