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Thunder guard Dennis Schroder back in bubble after leaving for birth of second child

After leaving the bubble earlier this month to be with his wife for the birth of their second child, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder returned to the bubble and is in quarantine, Thunder coach Billy Donovan confirmed on Wednesday.

It’s not clear how long Schroder will have to stay quarantined, though it will be at least four days before he can officially rejoin the team — something he could potentially do as early as Friday for their final seeding game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

“He’s quarantining right now,” Donovan said Thursday while declining to provide a timetable for his return, via ESPN. “Any time a player comes back into the bubble, those are going to be things left up to the league and their discretion in terms of things Dennis will have to go through to get out of quarantine and get back to playing.”

Schroder was averaging 18.9 points and four assists per game this season with the Thunder, his seventh in the league. He has played in just one of their six games so far at Walt Disney World — and will miss their game against the Heat on Wednesday night — putting up 13 points while shooting 5-of-8 from the field in their restart opening win against the Jazz.

“For me, it’s tough,” he said before leaving the bubble. “I love my teammates. I love basketball. But family comes first all the time.”

The Thunder currently sit half a game ahead of the Utah Jazz for the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference with two seeding games left, and just half of a game behind the Rockets. If things stay the way they are now, or the Thunder make a late push to claim the No. 4 seed, they’ll take on Houston in the first round of the postseason next week — something Schroder should be back with the team for.

Oklahoma City Thunder's Dennis Schroder
Dennis Schroder returned to the NBA bubble in Florida on Monday night, and will have to quarantine for at least four days before rejoining the Thunder. (AP/Michael Dwyer)

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