For just a moment, all of Portland held its collective breath after C.J. McCollum went down with an injury against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night.
McCollum collapsed to the ground after landing awkwardly on his left knee after a drive to the basket, laying in a heap by the baseline.
While fans feared the worst, the news was mostly positive. McCollum had suffered a strain popliteus, which–although it is a rather rare injury–should allow him to return to the Blazers in time for the start of the playoffs.
However, C.J. McCollum explained the level of uncertainty and fear that came with awaiting his diagnosis to NBC Sports NBA writer Kurt Helin:
“Any time you have an injury around the knee, those types of areas, you have concern, you don’t know for sure what it is, you need an MRI to tell you what is happening, what’s going on in the knee,” McCollum said. “It was definitely a scary time, just because there is so much uncertainty. Essentially another day where you don’t really know what’s going on, then you have to sit with the MRI for an hour and basically wait to tell them your fate.”
McCollum has mostly been the picture of health in his NBA career, playing in at least 80 games in each of the last three seasons. He and point guard Damian Lillard form arguably the best backcourt in the league.
As the article mentions, this kind of injury has rarely been seen in the league, the last time likely being when Kevin Garnett missed time with the same similar setback in 2009. But the Blazers will hope that McCollum–their second-leading scorer–will be fully healthy in time for the playoffs.
Follow Us
Subscribe