Hardaway injured the foot during a play in the first half against the Golden State Warriors
Tim Hardaway Jr. fractured the fifth metatarsal on his left foot in the first half of the Mavericks game against the Golden State Warriors, the Mavericks announced Tuesday night. The team said updates will follow when available, although Hardaway will be out indefinitely.
Hardaway injured the foot on a drive to the basket in the second quarter, immediately coming up limping after landing somewhat normally and without much contact, although he was fouled on the play. Hardaway got up and shot his two free throws before he needed to be helped to the locker room, putting zero pressure on the injured foot.
After the Mavericks were able to get x-rays on the foot, they announced the injury before the game was even over. Sports injury analyst Jeff Stotts of InStreetClothes.com said “according to my NBA injury database, the average time lost for in-season fifth metatarsal fractures is about 42 games (roughly 10 to 11 weeks).”
This is a crushing blow to a Mavericks team on a big winning run. Despite the blowout loss to the Warriors, the Mavericks had won 11 of their previous 13 games entering Tuesday and the Dallas bench isn’t particularly equipped to pick up the scoring slack from Hardaway’s absence. Dwight Powell is currently the healthiest bench player with the highest scoring average at 7.1 points per game.