duncan228
02-21-2009, 12:48 AM
Weekly Countdown: NBA's big hurt (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/02/20/weekly.countdown/index.html?eref=T1)
Ian Thomsen
5 Worrisome injuries
It turns out that the athletic trainers and doctors have been more important than the general managers and capologists during this week of the largely uneventful trade deadline.
5. Danny Granger's right foot. Three days after appearing in his first All-Star Game, Granger sustained a partial tendon tear in his right foot. He is expected to miss 10 days to three weeks.
Combine Granger's injury with the ongoing mystery of Mike Dunleavy's sore right knee, which has sidelined him for all but 18 games this season. Dunleavy is out indefinitely as the Pacers seek further medical opinions on his knee. They've been hoping to steal the No. 8 in the East, but Wednesday's loss at Charlotte left them 13th in the conference and 4½ games out of the playoffs with 26 remaining.
4. Tracy McGrady's left knee. He declared that he'll be out for the season with microfracture surgery (a report that surprised Rockets coach Rick Adelman as he read it with his morning coffee), but the team insists he first must visit a doctor in Chicago before deciding whether to return. If McGrady has had so much trouble overcoming last summer's arthroscopic surgery, then he'd better be cautious before signing on for the more exhaustive rehab from microfracture.
The Rockets have gone 13-6 without McGrady and may be able to win a playoff series that way, but they have no hope of winning a championship unless he is producing. No matter which course he undertakes with doctors, it's looking too late for McGrady and the Rockets to salvage an NBA Finals run this season.
3. Amar'e Stoudemire's right eye. Stoudemire is out for at least two months after undergoing surgery Friday to repair a partially detached retina. He was poked in the eye in the first quarter Wednesday and went on to score 42 points against the Clippers.
The Suns didn't move Stoudemire at the trade deadline Thursday because they didn't want to unload him for Tyrus Thomas, a draft pick and Drew Gooden's expiring contract, among other options. Now they'll be fighting with another injured team, the Utah Jazz, for the last playoff spot in the West while considering whether to put Stoudemire back on the market this summer.
2. Manu Ginobili's right ankle. He'll miss two to three weeks with a stress reaction in the right distal fibula, a bone in the ankle joint. The Spurs, as always, will be cautious about bringing him back. In the meantime, Denver will hope to grab hold of the No. 2 seed in the West in Ginobili's absence. The Nuggets had hoped to make a trade that would boost them ahead of San Antonio, but this injury may have the short-term effect the Nuggets were unable to gain at the deadline.
1. Kevin Garnett's right knee. While sitting with Garnett on the eve of the All-Star Game last weekend in Phoenix, I asked him how he has stayed so nimble after so many years. He let out a big laugh and said, "You think it's nimble, huh?'' He talked about doing all of the right things -- eating right, stretching, exercising -- before adding, "But sometimes you play through a lot of situations, and I'm no different from that.''
His right knee was wrapped in tape, and now it's obvious he was referring to the troubles it was giving him in the weeks before he suffered a knee strain while going up for an alley-oop Thursday at Utah. That he attempted to test his knee at halftime indicates that neither he nor the Celtics believed the injury to be season-threatening. Nonetheless, the team will be extremely cautious in bringing him back, even it means losing home-court advantage to the Cavaliers.
"I don't worry about it that much,'' Celtics president Danny Ainge said two weeks ago about the the potential of having to play a Game 7 at Cleveland this spring. "I just worry about our team and how much better we're getting and who's playing well and the health of the team. I worry about that a lot more than I worry about Cleveland and Orlando and L.A. and what everybody else is doing.''
Ian Thomsen
5 Worrisome injuries
It turns out that the athletic trainers and doctors have been more important than the general managers and capologists during this week of the largely uneventful trade deadline.
5. Danny Granger's right foot. Three days after appearing in his first All-Star Game, Granger sustained a partial tendon tear in his right foot. He is expected to miss 10 days to three weeks.
Combine Granger's injury with the ongoing mystery of Mike Dunleavy's sore right knee, which has sidelined him for all but 18 games this season. Dunleavy is out indefinitely as the Pacers seek further medical opinions on his knee. They've been hoping to steal the No. 8 in the East, but Wednesday's loss at Charlotte left them 13th in the conference and 4½ games out of the playoffs with 26 remaining.
4. Tracy McGrady's left knee. He declared that he'll be out for the season with microfracture surgery (a report that surprised Rockets coach Rick Adelman as he read it with his morning coffee), but the team insists he first must visit a doctor in Chicago before deciding whether to return. If McGrady has had so much trouble overcoming last summer's arthroscopic surgery, then he'd better be cautious before signing on for the more exhaustive rehab from microfracture.
The Rockets have gone 13-6 without McGrady and may be able to win a playoff series that way, but they have no hope of winning a championship unless he is producing. No matter which course he undertakes with doctors, it's looking too late for McGrady and the Rockets to salvage an NBA Finals run this season.
3. Amar'e Stoudemire's right eye. Stoudemire is out for at least two months after undergoing surgery Friday to repair a partially detached retina. He was poked in the eye in the first quarter Wednesday and went on to score 42 points against the Clippers.
The Suns didn't move Stoudemire at the trade deadline Thursday because they didn't want to unload him for Tyrus Thomas, a draft pick and Drew Gooden's expiring contract, among other options. Now they'll be fighting with another injured team, the Utah Jazz, for the last playoff spot in the West while considering whether to put Stoudemire back on the market this summer.
2. Manu Ginobili's right ankle. He'll miss two to three weeks with a stress reaction in the right distal fibula, a bone in the ankle joint. The Spurs, as always, will be cautious about bringing him back. In the meantime, Denver will hope to grab hold of the No. 2 seed in the West in Ginobili's absence. The Nuggets had hoped to make a trade that would boost them ahead of San Antonio, but this injury may have the short-term effect the Nuggets were unable to gain at the deadline.
1. Kevin Garnett's right knee. While sitting with Garnett on the eve of the All-Star Game last weekend in Phoenix, I asked him how he has stayed so nimble after so many years. He let out a big laugh and said, "You think it's nimble, huh?'' He talked about doing all of the right things -- eating right, stretching, exercising -- before adding, "But sometimes you play through a lot of situations, and I'm no different from that.''
His right knee was wrapped in tape, and now it's obvious he was referring to the troubles it was giving him in the weeks before he suffered a knee strain while going up for an alley-oop Thursday at Utah. That he attempted to test his knee at halftime indicates that neither he nor the Celtics believed the injury to be season-threatening. Nonetheless, the team will be extremely cautious in bringing him back, even it means losing home-court advantage to the Cavaliers.
"I don't worry about it that much,'' Celtics president Danny Ainge said two weeks ago about the the potential of having to play a Game 7 at Cleveland this spring. "I just worry about our team and how much better we're getting and who's playing well and the health of the team. I worry about that a lot more than I worry about Cleveland and Orlando and L.A. and what everybody else is doing.''