WASHINGTON (AFP) - Washington Wizards centre Ian Mahinmi, a 30-year-old reserve from France, will miss at least the team's next two NBA playoff games with a strained left calf, the Wizards said on Friday (April 21).
Washington leads the Atlanta Hawks 2-0 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series with games three and four in Atlanta on Saturday and Monday.
Wizards coach Scott Brooks said Mahinmi was re-evaluated and has "definitely improved, feeling better each day, but he definitely won't play the next few games."
Mahinmi missed the start of the playoffs after a late-season injury. He averaged 5.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in 31 games this season, all of them coming off the bench.
"There's really no timetable, other than whenever he's ready, he's ready," Brooks said. "There's no pressure from me or our staff."
Mahinmi, the son of a Beninese father and Jamaican mother, played from Le Havre and Pau Orthez in France before joining the NBA's San Antonio Spurs in 2007.
He later played for the Dallas Mavericks and Indiana Pacers before signing with the Wizards last July.
He missed the first 14 games of the season after left knee surgery and was sidelined for another six weeks from December to February for knee treatments.
