Washington Wizards rookie Rui Hachimura tallied 11 points and eight rebounds in his return to the lineup on Monday night after missing the past 23 games due to a groin injury.
The first-round pick logged 26 minutes during the 125-117 loss to the Golden State Warriors, playing in roughly six-minute stretches. Hachimura looked comfortable in his return and had a few nice post moves throughout the night.
Hachimura was inadvertently kicked in the groin by teammate Isaac Bonga on Dec. 16 against the Detroit Pistons. Hachimura left after the first half of that game and did not return after suffering a groin contusion.
Hachimura was cleared for all basketball activities roughly two weeks ago and needed to knock off some rust and work on his conditioning prior to returning to the court after missing so much time.
Prior to the injury, Hachimura was averaging 13.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Given Monday was his first game back after a lengthy absence, it will likely take a few games to return to how he played before going down.
The Wizards play next on Friday against the Dallas Mavericks.
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