Updated: De'Aaron Fox suffers avulsion fracture in index finger, doubtful for Game 5

The Sacramento Kings are in a first round battle with the Golden State Warriors and their path ahead may have just gotten a lot more difficult.

Star point guard De’Aaron Fox suffered a fracture to his index finger during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 126-125 loss at Chase Center. Fox is expected to be listed as doubtful for Wednesday’s pivotal Game 5 at Golden 1 Center.

According to a late medical release from the team, X-ray imaging on Monday revealed an avulsion fracture in Fox’s left index finger. In basic terms, the tendon on the back side of the tip of his index finger detached, pulling a small chunk of bone with it.

While this injury sounds similar to the one that Domantas Sabonis suffered earlier this season, it isn’t. Sabonis has an avulsion fracture of the thumb that hampers his ability to squeeze his thumb towards this index finger.

An avulsion fracture of the index finger limits Fox’s control of the use of his finger tip. From rewatching the film of his postgame interview, it does not appear that Fox’s finger is stuck in a forward position, like a mallet finger injury.

Pain management is one aspect to this injury, but Fox lacks the ability to move the tip of a very important digit on his dominant hand. This comes into play in almost every aspect of the game, including shooting, passing, dribbling and playing defense. Fox isn’t just dealing with pain. There is potential for his injury to limit his effectiveness.

Fox is thriving in his first playoff experience. Through the first four games of the Kings’ first round series, he’s averaging 31.5 points, seven assists and six rebounds in 38.5 minutes per game.

The Warriors have struggled to stay in front of the All-Star point guard despite having thrown just about everyone in their arsenal at him. In his 38-point performance in Sunday’s loss, Golden State even sent Draymond Green at Fox, with little success.

There is still a glimmer of hope that Fox can play through the injury. Being listed as doubtful is different than being out. The Kings have two days to assess the situation and see if he can play through the pain of the injury, like he did in the fourth quarter on Sunday.

If Fox can’t play, expect second-year guard Davion Mitchell to step into the starting lineup. Mitchell has played a more prominent role in the series, seeing an increase in minutes played as the Kings try to chase Stephen Curry around the court.

Mitchell has stepped up to the challenge, averaging 8.5 points and 2.3 assists in 23.7 minutes per game. The Kings will also ask Malik Monk to take on more responsibilities as a distributor if Fox can’t go, especially with third string point guard Matthew Dellavedova out of the playoffs after suffering his own broken index finger in a March 29 win over the Trail Blazers.

This is a tremendous blow to the Kings as they try to recover from two straight losses at Chase Center. Fox is blossoming in his first postseason opportunity and has been nothing short of spectacular in the series.