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Detroit Pistons’ forward Tim Hardaway Jr. left the team’s matchup against the Miami Heat on Tuesday after suffering a scary injury.
In the third quarter of the NBA Cup meeting, Hardaway took a blow to the head from Miami’s Bam Adebayo while on defense. After falling to the ground, he tried to defend a layup from Tyler Herro and once again took a hard hit to the head.
He exited the matchup in a wheelchair.
NBA insider Chris Haynes provided more on the injury after the game, reporting that Hardaway’s CAT scan came back negative and he’ll get stitches where he took an elbow to the face and where the back of his head hit the court.
A timeline for Hardaway’s return to the court is still unclear.
Hardaway had 11 points in 19 minutes before leaving the game. The veteran has had a solid year so far, averaging 12.6 points, 2.1 assists and 1.7 rebounds while shooting a scorching-hot 47 percent from three-point range.
Hardaway joined the Pistons this offseason when the Dallas Mavericks traded him for shooting guard Quentin Grimes. He spent the last six seasons with the Mavs, serving an integral role as Dallas reached the NBA Finals a year ago as he averaged 14.4 points, 3.2 boards and 1.8 assists.
The Pistons have started the year 4-7 with Tuesday marking their first NBA Cup game of the season. While winning four out of 11 games to start the season isn’t exactly great, it’s a major step up from last season when Detroit didn’t win its fourth game until January.
After a meeting with the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, Detroit will square off with the Toronto Raptors for another NBA Cup matchup.
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