Rodney Hood hopes to be ready for the Portland Trail Blazers' clash against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.
Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reported Tuesday that Hood and the Trail Blazers have taken precautionary measures with his hip injury so it doesn't become a “long-term issue.”
Hood, 26, first incurred the soreness in his hip during last week's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He also left Saturday's game against the Phoenix Suns after just nine minutes of action.
The Trail Blazers are currently 40-26 and in the middle of the pack amongst Western Conference playoff contenders. The team is 8-5 since Hood amalgamated with Portland on Feb. 7.
The No. 23 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft has provided the vital bench scoring that the Blazers envisioned when they rescued him from the tanking Cleveland Cavaliers. The scoring role assigned to Hood could continue through the playoffs in a month – though he was a total non-factor for LeBron James and Cleveland during that juncture a year ago.
Everything that's existent in Hood's offensive arsenal would lead you to believe he wants to shoot 50 times a game, but that's not the case. He's just concentrating on team success.
“I just want to be a part of winning. Just throw myself into it, Hood told reporters. I’m not worried about coming in and trying to score X-amount of points or getting some notoriety and things like that, it’s just about being competitive and being whatever the coaches need from me to do and then try to do it to the best of my abilities,” Hood said.
Rodney Hood is averaging 11.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in his fifth NBA campaign.
Follow Us
Subscribe