Malaki Branham likely out the rest of the season on concussion protocol

The injury was suffered against the Thunder when he took an elbow to the head.

This Spurs injury report keeps growing as the season comes to an end. Malaki Branham has been ruled out for tonight’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets on concussion protocol, and he will likely miss Sunday’s finale against the Detroit Pistons. The injury was suffered a few minutes into the second half of against the Thunder when he took an elbow to the forehead from Jalen Williams. A foul was not called, but play was soon stopped as Branham was dripping blood on the court. He exited and did not return.

Branham’s sophomore campaign followed a similar trend to his rookie year, as he started slow but came on stronger after the All-Star break. His three-point shooting took a jump from just over 30 percent last season to almost 35 percent this season, but overall his scoring dropped a point to 9.2 points per game. Consistency will be the biggest thing he needs to work on this summer, as he tends to be a Jekyll-and-Hyde player, jumping between playing passive or energized.

Branham joins Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, Keldon Johnson, Cedi Osman, Charles Bassey and Dominick Barlow on the Spurs’ ever-growing injury report. While Vassell, Sochan, and Bassey are the only ones who have truly been truly ruled out for the season, with only two games left, odds the rest have played their final games of this season as well.