Phoenix Suns centre Robin Lopez out due to knee injury
Phoenix Suns centre Robin Lopez will be out for several weeks due to moderate ligament sprains
in his left knee. The former All-American sustained the injury during the second quarter of the Phoenix's match against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. The 7ft former Stanford standout sprained his knee when Suns forward Jared Dudley fell onto him
after driving to the hoop.
An MRI of Lopez' knee showed that he had sprained his medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments.
The 22-year old Lopez had been designated as the Suns' starting centre, a job he first acquired last season in favor of veteran Channing Frye. In the squad's first nine games, Lopez had
struggled as he tried to recover from a back injury that he sustained last season. The injury damaged nerves in his right leg and has in turn hampered his explosiveness. Due to his absence, the Suns will sign Earl Barron to add some depth in the frontcourt.
Knee injury 'a little bit more serious'
In an interview with the
Arizona Republic, Lon Babby, the Phoenix Suns' President of Basketball Operations, said, "My experience is whenever you put a time frame on it, it's wrong, so we might as well be a little bit vague and hope for the best and prepare for the worst."
The team received a blow when the injuries were finally diagnosed, as originally they hadn't seemed as serious.
"It's a little bit more serious than we first thought it would be. We were very cautious, took a MRI, and that revealed it was a moderate sprain as opposed to a mild sprain," Babby said.
In Phoenix's first nine games, Lopez has averaged just 17 minutes per game. So far this season, he is averaging 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and one block per game while shooting 44 percent from
the field. The Phoenix Suns currently have a 5-4 record.
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