Russel Westbrook has Knee Surgery - Out for the Playoffs

[tmtcsc]

Anyone who thinks OKC will easily beat Houston is crazy. This injury is devastating for OKC no matter who their opponent is. They are going to struggle to get out of round one without Westbrook. This thing goes 6 or 7 and I'm saying its a toss-up.

Not only did they lose an explosive player, they are now going to have to adjust to not having him on the court. Durant is going to be pressured like never before and that means Martin and Jackson are going to have to step up and take more of a role.

I love what this means for Ibaka. He's ed about being a third wheel in the offense and now he's going to be taking the opportunity to try and score more. I see an epic fail and melt-down coming if he plays outside his limits.

On the other hand, Lin's weak ass may think about what an injury is or isn't. A chest bruise? C'mon man. If your wheels work, you gotta play through the pain and contribute some other way..

[LonghornMike]

Rumor has it, that it's a meniscus tear. Simply put, he has some frayed cartilage. If they tried to do a repair, he's out for 6 weeks minimally. I don't think he'll go that route. I think the surgeon will shave off the frayed parts so his cartilage is lessened but clear so there won't be any serious lingering pain. I've been in training rooms where a HS QB has Surgery to clear the frayed parts on Saturday, and he's back on the field by Friday the same week.

Spurs-Eyes on the Prize-Focus only on TEAM!

The surgeon is going to prioritize the type of meniscal injury and the age of the patient. It's probably not a "frayed" meniscus b/c that type of degenerative injury happens more in older athletes, IE MWP. This type of surgery reduces the ability of the meniscus to do it's job of absorbing force, since there's less of it, so early arthritis is a risk. But for a younger guy like Westbrook, it's probably not going to be a degenerative issue, thus making the surgery a repair that needs a longer timetable to heal because they literally suture the meniscus back onto the bone. The benefit is that Westbrook will have more of his meniscus remaining for the duration of his career. So I'm going to guess that those factors will mean that the Thunder will have to live without Westbrook for the 6-8wk timetable.

[TheGoldStandard]

If it is serious, that just means more minutes for Spurs-killer Derek Fisher. Yuck. Yes, he's ancient, but he still manages to drill a million threes every time he plays the Spurs.

It doesn't help when Danny Green or Gary Neal leave him wide open to shoot those shots.

[LonghornMike]

It doesn't help when Danny Green or Gary Neal leave him wide open to shoot those shots.

Without Westbrook getting into the lane and drawing defenders, those looks for Fisher, Ibaka and the others that need his help creating shots will dry up.

[HarlemHeat37]

Without Westbrook getting into the lane and drawing defenders, those looks for Fisher, Ibaka and the others that need his help creating shots will dry up.

Yup..

Westbrook is criticized more than any player in the NBA, and rightfully so, but even ignoring his scoring(whether you believe it's good or bad), his amount of usage is effective in 2 major ways:

- he generates open looks for dependent players(which is every OKC player other than Durant and occasionally Kevin Martin)

- he allows the other players in the rotation to fit their role perfectly

With Westbrook out, this forces Martin and Ibaka to assume the roles of #2 options when either guy is on the floor, which is great news for opposing teams..

Also, while Durant has improved as a passer, he's not a penetrate and dish passer, but rather a mid-post passer, a different dynamic IMO..

[Danny.Zhu]

I feel sorry for him. Westbrook is a more likable player than Durant.

[lmbebo]

The surgeon is going to prioritize the type of meniscal injury and the age of the patient. It's probably not a "frayed" meniscus b/c that type of degenerative injury happens more in older athletes, IE MWP. This type of surgery reduces the ability of the meniscus to do it's job of absorbing force, since there's less of it, so early arthritis is a risk. But for a younger guy like Westbrook, it's probably not going to be a degenerative issue, thus making the surgery a repair that needs a longer timetable to heal because they literally suture the meniscus back onto the bone. The benefit is that Westbrook will have more of his meniscus remaining for the duration of his career. So I'm going to guess that those factors will mean that the Thunder will have to live without Westbrook for the 6-8wk timetable.

Depends on what kind of meniscal tear it is. From what I've read is that he has an isolated lateral meniscal tear, which if true, is a very rare.

Next bit is what kind of tear it was. Oblique, radial, horizontal, bucket handle, or the lump term "complex". To add more to it, whether it was in the periphery of the meniscus that has some penetrating vasculature or more central where the meniscus is avascular.

All these different aspects will influence how it is treated and likely recovery time.

It may be a longer recovery if they sutured the periphery of the meniscus and are giving it time to heal versus shaving/debrieding a relatively avascular portion of the meniscus.

You can't look at how quickly World Peace came back and use him as an example for how long it'll take Westbrook to come back.

[z0sa]

I don't wish injury on anyone but after the fact, my only reaction right now is FUUUUUCK YEAHHHHH

[tmtcsc]

Does anyone know how Tim's meniscus injury in 2000 compares to MWP and Westbrooke's ?

[exstatic]

Does anyone know how Tim's meniscus injury in 2000 compares to MWP and Westbrooke's ?

I believe Tim's was a hole. He probably could have played in the playoffs, but Pop is an old woman about injuries, and rightly so.

[tmtcsc]

I believe Tim's was a hole. He probably could have played in the playoffs, but Pop is an old woman about injuries, and rightly so.

Yeah, 3 rings later and him resigning with us (partly because Pop looked out for his career) seemed to work out.

[tmtcsc]

I believe Tim's was a hole. He probably could have played in the playoffs, but Pop is an old woman about injuries, and rightly so.

Yeah, 3 rings later and him resigning with us (partly because Pop looked out for his career) seemed to work out.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

The West is now WIDE open. If we can get some momentum we could steamroll through to the Finals, although so could Memphis or the Clips. I would have added Denver to that list but they look very vulnerable against GSW even though they're missing Lee.

[exstatic]

The West is now WIDE open. If we can get some momentum we could steamroll through to the Finals, although so could Memphis or the Clips. I would have added Denver to that list but they look very vulnerable against GSW even though they're missing Lee.

Denver was always going to struggle without Gallinari. When you run an ensemble offense, you need all of your pieces, especially your top couple of scorers.

[TampaDude]

Yay! We're going to win the West and have the privilege of losing to the Heat in the Finals.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Yay! We're going to win the West and have the privilege of losing to the Heat in the Finals.

Pretty much

[look_at_g_shred]

Am I the only one here who thinks OKC will still win without westchimp. The refs are just going to allocate all his whistles he would get to Durant now. Expect Durant to be at the line at least 20 times. I also believe they will have no problem beating clips/mem either.

[Mr. Body]

Tonight should be very interesting. Was looking like it could be a decent series even with Westbrook, now almost anything could happen.

[Kamnik]

Is there a chance Westbrick returns in the next 2-3 weeks? Or is he finished?

I am reading all these mixed reports all over...

[DesignatedT]

InsideHoops.com ‏@InsideHoops 3m
Russell Westbrook undergoes knee surgery, out for rest of #NBAplayoffs: http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=13127

He's officially out for the remainder of the playoffs.

[emanueldavidginobili]

OUT FOR REMAINDER OF PLAYOFFS

[thunderup]

He's officially out for the remainder of the playoffs.

Oh god....

[Kamnik]

Nice...! Unfortunately this means the ball a lot more in the hands of Durant which is.... ah. But I think the Spurs just became the strong favorites in the West.

No Westbrick and Harden when comparing to last year!!!

[phxspurfan]

wow...out of nowhere, the Thunders are relegated to fodder status.

[DatBoyGood]

Thunder must be definitely wishing they kept Harden now. But instead theyre playing against him now haha