LaMelo Ball Gives Injury Update After Timberwolves Win vs. Bucks

A wrist injury that popped up a few hours before tipoff did not slow down point guard LaMelo Ball on Monday night, as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Milwaukee Bucks 112-100 at home behind his best scoring game of the season.

Ball was not on Minnesota's first injury report for this game, but he was a new addition later in the day, and the league's 4:15 p.m. Eastern report listed him as questionable with a right wrist contusion.

That left the Timberwolves waiting on his status with guard Anthony Edwards and guard Donte DiVincenzo already out.

The news turned out to be good, since the team's public relations staff confirmed before the game that he would play and start, according to Heavy's Erik C. Anderson.

The report did not say how he hurt the wrist or whether it would be an issue going forward.

Ball was not the only worry, either, because guard Terrence Shannon Jr. was also listed as questionable with a left hip contusion, and he ended up missing the game.

If the wrist bothered Ball, nobody could tell.

He scored 13 of Minnesota's first 17 points and had 24 points by halftime, according to The Associated Press, and he finished with 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting with six 3-pointers in 33 minutes.

His third 3-pointer of the night also made him the fastest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 made 3s, doing it in 311 games, per the AP.

The rest of the group did enough to close it out.

Guard Ayo Dosunmu had 19 points, a season-high 12 rebounds and eight assists, while forward Jaden McDaniels scored six points during an 11-3 run to open the fourth quarter that pushed the lead to 91-79.

Milwaukee shot a season-worst 38.4% from the field and has now lost six of its first seven games.

The most important part of Monday for this team was simply having Ball on the floor.

Edwards is out following right knee arthroscopy, an injury that changed the outlook of the season, and DiVincenzo is out after surgery to repair his right Achilles tendon.

That leaves Ball as the main ball handler and the player who has to create most of the offense, which is a lot to ask of anyone.

When he was suddenly added to the injury report on Monday afternoon, the worry was that Minnesota could be down three guards in one game, which would have been a tough spot even against a struggling Milwaukee team.

Instead, Ball looked like the best player on the floor.

His coach liked how his offense found a rhythm early, and Minnesota needed every bit of it on a night when the Timberwolves shot a season-low 42.7% from the field.

The Timberwolves are now 5-3 and head to Houston to face the Rockets on Wednesday.

I will be watching the next injury report closely, because a healthy Ball decides whether this team stays in the race in the West or falls back while Edwards works his way back.