Kent Bazemore missed Thursday night’s game against the Nuggets due to a right knee bone bruise. Tim Hardaway Jr. started at small forward, his first assignment of the season.
According to coach Mike Budenholzer, Bazemore suffered the injury during a fall in the final two minutes of the 118-114 win over the Pistons Wednesday. Bazemore recorded his first career double-double in the win with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 27:15.
Bazemore was a late add to the team’s injury report as he was listed as probable in an announcement Thursday afternoon. Bazemore was unavailable to speak prior to Thursday’s game.
“A few different things but I think our bench and the way Thabo (Sefolosha) is able to come in and maintain our defense – I feel like we come with a defensive punch off the bench,” Budenholzer said of starting Hardaway. “With Dennis (Schroder) on the perimeter, I feel like they are in a really good place. So let Tim start with that starting group and have a lot of shooting around Jeff (Teague), Al (Horford) and Paul (Millsap).”
Budenholzer said he thought the injury to Bazemore would be “short-term.”
Bazemore has appeared in 63 games, including 56 starts, and averaged 11.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 28.3 minutes. Hardaway has appeared in 37 games and averaged 4.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in 15.7 minutes.
