Though Jarred Vanderbilt suffered a gruesome dislocated right pinky injury during the Lakers’ loss in Game 1 against the Thunder on Tuesday, coach JJ Redick said his forward has been listed as day-to-day for the second-round series.
Vanderbilt, who is left-handed, was injured in the second quarter trying to block a dunk by Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, but his hand hit the backboard. Vanderbilt immediately doubled over in pain, as the bone broke through the skin and had to be put back in place.
“They were able to put his finger back together and it’s splinted and he’s day-to-day,” Redick said Wednesday.
The Lakers and Thunder play Game 2 here Thursday night at Paycom Center.
Redick said it was a “reduction” for Vanderbilt, meaning it was a procedure to restore his dislocated finger.
Vanderbilt had his finger taped and had a splint on the finger after the game.
“Yeah. I mean, he’s obviously a tough-minded player and person,” Redick said. “It just, he had a full dislocation. So they just put the stuff back together. You know, he’ll be day-to-day.”
Redick was asked if it’ll be a pain tolerance issue for his defensive-minded forward.
“Certainly the pain is involved,” Redick said. “From my understanding, it’s basically making sure basically the tissue is healed enough. We’re obviously going to splint him, but making sure the tissue is healed enough to protect his skin barrier.”
Jaxson Hayes called Vanderbilt’s finger injury “disgusting” because the “whole bone was out of his skin.”
“Obviously, you never want to see one of your teammates go down,” Hayes said. “But, I mean, that was gross. That was really gross.”
