There’s little silver lining to take from 28-point losses, but the large deficit on Monday night did give the Oklahoma City Thunder a chance to play a veteran who hasn’t seen the court in more than a year.
Against the Miami Heat, forward Darius Miller got his first action on the court since he ruptured his right Achilles tendon in August 2019 when he was a member of the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Thunder have taken it slowly with Miller, giving him an extended return plan even without an injury designation.
“We put him on plan that was similar to a return-to-play even though he didn’t have the injury, just to try to get him toward game shape,” head coach Mark Daigneault said. “He hasn’t played in a long time and there’s a lot of invisible work that goes behind the scenes for a guy that has a long-term injury.”
Miller played the final seven minutes of the game and made a 3-pointer, his first basket NBA basket in 21 months going back to his final game in the 2018-19 season.
Congrats to Darius Miller on his first points as a member of the Thunder! He was out all last season after rupturing his right Achilles before the 19/20 season. Congrats to him on his hard work through a tough injury and being able to come back and play in an NBA game.#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/HBqptyFWIC
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) January 5, 2021
“It’s a pretty good moment, so we’re happy for him,” Daigneault said.
Miller played for New Orleans from 2012-15 before going overseas to play in Germany. He played there until 2017, when he returned to the Pelicans.
Over his final two seasons with the Pelicans, he averaged eight points a game and shot 38.8% on 4.8 3-point attempts per game.
Miller, 30, has one year worth $7 million remaining on his contract.
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