Serbian captain Bogdan Bogdanovic left the court and did not play in the second half of the team’s win against Portugal — and is out for the team’s game Saturday against Latvia — after suffering a hamstring injury.
The injury appeared to occur on a drive to the basket late in the first half, reports Semih Tuna of eurohoops.net, who was in Riga, Latvia, for the game. Bogdanovic was in the Serbian locker room greeting his teammates after the win.
The severity of the injury and his ability to return to EuroBasket are not yet known. The Serbians are waiting for the Clippers’ doctor to weigh in (he has a say due to the Clippers’ insurance on the player), and it is his thoughts, working in conjunction with the Serbian national team’s medical staff, that will determine if Bogdanovic will return during EuroBasket, according to reports. How long a player is out with a hamstring injury depends on the severity of the strain, it can go from a week or so out to six weeks or more. The longer end of that timeline would not only have Bogdanovic missing the rest of EuroBasket but also the start of the Clippers training camp in a month. Bogdanovic missed games early last season in Los Angeles due to a hamstring strain.
Bogdanovic had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in Serbia’s opening blowout win over Estonia at EuroBasket. He had seven points and five rebounds before leaving the game against Portugal.
Serbia went on to beat Portugal 80-69 behind 23 points and 10 rebounds from Nikola Jokic. Next up for Serbia is host Latvia and their star, Kristaps Porzingis.