The NBA injury report has some notable names heading through the weekend, including DeMarcus Cousins, Andrew Bogut, JR Smith, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. Some of those players may return, while Kyrie Irving, Tyreke Evans and Iman Shumpert are out for longer stretches for their teams.
DeMarcus Cousins has been banged up for the Sacramento Kings and he has been out while dealing with an Achilles injury. According to Marc Spears at Yahoo Sports, Cousins "expects" to return on Monday when the Kings play against the San Antonio Spurs. Spears writes that Cousins could be limited in his return after missing the last three games for the Kings. The Kings play the Golden State Warriors on Saturday and Cousins is not expected to play that game. Cousins is averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds in three games this season.
Andrew Bogut has been dealing with a concussion for the Golden State Warriors and he will be out for the game against the Kings Saturday. Bogut is hopeful that he can play on Monday and the team likely wants to be cautious about bringing him back too soon. Festus Ezeli has been playing well in his place and the Warriors have been off to such a good start, there is no rush to bring back Bogut until he's fully healthy. Bogut has played in one game this season.
Chris Paul is dealing with a groin injury and he will be a gametime decision against the Houston Rockets on Saturday night. Paul is listed as probable for the game after suffering a strained right groin against the Warriors. Paul is averaging 17 points this season in five games and he was able to do some shooting at the team shootaround ahead of the game. Dwight Howard is expected to return on Saturday night against the Clippers after sitting out against the Kings on Friday. Howard has been dealing with a minor back issue.
JR Smith is expected to return on Sunday for the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Indiana Pacers. According to Chris Haynes at Cleveland.com, Smith is dealing with a knee injury and he was expected to miss two games for the Cavaliers and if he returns Sunday that will end up being what he missed out on. Smith is averaging 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in four games played this season.
Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert and Tyreke Evans all have longer term injuries and here are updates for those players. Irving is coming back from knee surgery and he said to ESPN that he has a return date targeted to come back, but he is keeping it to himself "for a little bit." Tyreke Evans remains out for the Pelicans and he does not have a return date set for his right knee injury, according to NBA.com. Evans has been able to do some shooting and is "making progress." According to Ohio.com, Iman Shumpert had the cast removed last week after having wrist surgery before the season started.
