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 Memphis center Marc Gasol sprained his left knee and Golden State
guard Andre Iguodala limped off with a strained left hamstring on
another painful night for some of the league's best players.
They added to a growing list of big names already sidelined this
season by one ailment or another, a scroll that includes Deron
Williams, Stephen Curry, Steve Nash and Tyson Chandler.
No team has played even 15 games yet in a season that's 3½ weeks
old, and already trainer's rooms are full.
Ouch!
Not to mention that Kobe Bryant and Rajon Rondo, both still
recovering from surgery, haven't suited up all season.
Dwyane Wade has been held out of three games as part of Miami's plan
for handling his history of knee issues.
And it only got worse Friday night — especially for Rose and the
Bulls.
The 2011 MVP injured his right knee in the third quarter and did not
return during a 98-95 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, who won
their ninth straight game.
Rose, who sat out last season following surgery on his left knee,
will have an MRI in Los Angeles on Saturday.
"He was in pain and felt like he couldn't push off his right knee,"
Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau said.
Rose was on crutches in the trainer's room but was not made
available to the media after the Bulls squandered a 21-point lead in
their second consecutive loss.
The three-time All-Star led Chicago with 20 points, five rebounds
and three assists, but was helped off the court with 3:20 remaining
in the third.
He lost his footing while trying to change direction to get back on
defense when Nicolas Batum stole a pass from Joakim Noah and started
the other way. Rose limped across the court and couldn't put any
weight on his knee. After the Blazers scored, he came out of the
game during a timeout.
It didn't appear there was any contact on the play, but Rose was
unable to return.
"I'm concerned," Thibodeau said. "Anytime anyone goes down, you're
concerned. But I don't want to speculate until I have more
information."
Rose tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the
2012 playoffs. The top pick in the 2008 draft was averaging 15.4
points this season. "Hopefully, it's nothing serious," teammate Taj
Gibson said. "He's a strong guy. He worked extremely hard this
summer trying to get his body right, working out every day."
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Gasol was also expected to have an MRI on Saturday after leaving
the Grizzlies' 102-86 loss to San Antonio early in the second
quarter.
The 7-foot-1 center grabbed at his knee while sliding toward the
basket on defense, but never went to the floor. He gingerly
walked off the court and into the locker room.
Gasol was the NBA Defensive Player of the Year last season.
Iguodala, who replaced Curry as the Warriors' point guard, had
six points and six assists before limping to the locker room in
the third quarter of a 102-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
"Once I heard a pop, I knew it was serious," Iguodala said.
"This one kind of worries me a little bit. I'll take it serious,
I'm sure. ... I'm not even walking right now, so we're going to
have an MRI (on Saturday)."
Sounds familiar.
It was Golden State's second consecutive defeat without Curry,
who missed both games with a concussion. Curry banged his head
on the court Monday at Utah.
The Lakers know all about injury absences: Bryant still hasn't
played since tearing his Achilles tendon during Golden State's
last visit to Staples Center in April, while Nash is out for at
least another week with nerve root irritation.
But they're not the only team missing some serious firepower.
The disappointing Brooklyn Nets played without Williams
(sprained left ankle), Andrei Kirilenko (back spasms), Brook
Lopez (sprained left ankle) and Jason Terry (bruised left knee)
in a 111-81 loss at Minnesota on Friday night.
"Everybody's frustrated," Kevin Garnett said. "I don't think
there's a happy person in here or a guy who's smiling. There's
nothing to be smiling about right now."
Mikhail Prokhorov's $190 million team has lost four in a row and
seven of eight to fall to 3-9.
"We created this monster. We've got to deal with it," Garnett
seethed. "You're going to have the business of basketball come
into play. I'm sure and management is probably going to do what
they've got to do, but that's out of our hands. We've got to
control our own destiny, who we are as individuals and players.
So like I said, for the fifth time, look at yourself and try to
fix this thing."
[Associated
Press; MIKE FITZPATRICK, AP Sports Writer]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
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