Chase Budinger tears left meniscus; Steve Blake out with a lower abdominal strain – NBA Injury Report
With Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio still out for extended periods, and Brandon Roy and J.J Barea nursing injuries as well, the Minnesota Timberwolves certainly didn’t need another player out. The franchise announced on Sunday that
forward Chase Budinger tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee in the game against the Chicago Bulls and will have to undergo a surgery to repair it.
The team has not given any time table for his return, but such injuries normally take two months to completely recover from. Budinger was having a blast in the season thus far with an average 11.8 points and 3.5 rebounds at 47.6
percent shooting from the floor. With him out, coach Rick Adelman will have to rely on Derrick Williams to play as a small forward and Andrei Kirilenko will be pretty much left without a backup.
Budinger’s injury was not the only one down west. Los Angeles Lakers point guard
Steve Blake also suffered from a lower abdominal strain in the game against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
Blake was supposed to play as backup to Steve Nash this season, but after suffering a non-displaced fracture in the head of his left fibula in his first game for the Lakers, the legendary one guard has been on the sidelines. In
his absence, Blake has been filling the starting role and has so far averaged 5.7 points and 3.3 assists this season.
The Lakers say that Blake would not be a part of the practice on Monday and will undergo an ultrasound on Tuesday, the same day Lakers will take on their arch rivals San Antonio Spurs.
"It's something I've been dealing with for the last couple games. I've been trying to push through it, but tonight it was hurting pretty bad," Blake, who was pulled off in the third quarter said after the game. "I think I can try
to play through anything, but I don't know if it would be good for me to try and play through it because it will probably never heal. It's one of those things where we have to make a decision."
In Blake’s absence, second-year point guard Darius Morris is expected to start for the Lakers.
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