OKC Thunder faces NBA investigation for player absences due to injury, per report

The NBA is investigating the OKC Thunder for player absences due to injury during its nationally-televised game at San Antonio on Feb. 4, according to a report Monday from The Athletic.

The Thunder only had eight players available in its 116-106 loss to the Spurs — that consisted of five players on standard contracts and its three two-way players.

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OKC was without Alex Caruso (right adductor injury management), Ousmane Dieng (not with team), Lu Dort (right patellofemoral joint inflammation), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain), Isaiah Hartenstein (right eye corneal abrasion), Chet Holmgren (low back spasms), Ajay Mitchell (abdominal strain), Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery), Nikola Topić (surgical recovery) and Jalen Williams (right hamstring strain).

It's worth noting that Caruso missed six straight games due to a right adductor strain. He returned against Orlando on Tuesday and rested against San Antonio on what marked the second night of a back-to-back stretch.

Dieng was also traded to Charlotte prior to tipoff Wednesday, and Chet Holmgren has been dealing with low back spasms throughout the entire season. Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Sorber, Topić and Williams have continued to miss time due to their respective injuries as well.

Next up for OKC is a road game against the Los Angeles Lakers at 9 p.m. CST Monday.

Justin Martinez covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at [email protected] or on X/Twitter at @Justintohoops. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: NBA investigating Thunder for player absences due to injury | Report