It was incredibly scary when it happened — Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins went in for a dunk and Oklahoma City’s Nerlens Noel challenged him. Noel took an inadvertent elbow to the face and when he fell hit his head hard on the court. He stayed down for several minutes and had to be stretchered off the court.
Looks like Nerlens Noel caught an elbow from Andrew Wiggins before taking a fall pic.twitter.com/PWpTEt5cbP
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) January 9, 2019
Noel suffered a concussion but nothing more, according to a report from Shams Charania of The Atheltic.
After scary fall last night, Oklahoma City Thunder center Nerlens Noel has been diagnosed with a concussion — and tests showed he avoided any fractures, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 9, 2019
Positive news for Noel and the Thunder. Noel exited the game in a stretcher and knocked unconscious, but was alert in the aftermath of his fall last night. He'll continue to have evaluations. Noel has been a valued rotation player for OKC this season. https://t.co/FYrzJcXi96
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 9, 2019
While concussions are serious and this could sideline Noel for a while, this could have been much worse with a head/neck/spine injury. Good for the Thunder and Noel.
There is no timeline for his return, and while he has given OKC 14 quality, efficient minutes as a reserve nightly they are not about to rush him back from this.
