OKLAHOMA CITY — A defensive play gone wrong left Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt with a horrifying finger injury during Tuesday evening’s Western Conference semifinal opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The incident occurred when Vanderbilt reached from behind to swat away a dunk attempt by Thunder center Chet Holmgren, causing his finger to strike the backboard. The impact was so severe that multiple Thunder players on the sideline immediately turned their heads away.
“I mean, it just — it looked pretty gruesome in my opinion,” Thunder guard Jared McCain said. “I don’t even know, to be honest, what I was looking at. It looked pretty bad, though. So prayers for him. Sending him love.”
Despite the defensive effort, Holmgren completed the slam dunk, extending Oklahoma City’s lead to 48-39 with 5:57 remaining in the second quarter. Vanderbilt immediately doubled over, clutching his injured hand before exiting the contest.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick witnessed the severity of the situation firsthand.
“I went to go check on him because it just looked bad,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “He was audibly screaming. Knew he had done something. We’re obviously disappointed. But, that happened, and it’s just a freak injury.”
The injury forced Los Angeles to reduce their rotation from nine players to eight for the remainder of the game. Vanderbilt had contributed two points in just six minutes of action before departing.
Oklahoma City maintained their halftime advantage at 61-53 and cruised to a commanding 108-90 victory in the series opener.
