Home » Sports » Basketball
Kobe hurts knee, out for 6 weeks
Print Edition
Just 11 days after Kobe Bryant made his long-awaited return for the Los Angeles Lakers, the shooting guard will be out for about six weeks because of a knee injury, the team announced on Thursday.
The 35-year-old, who spent almost eight months on the sidelines with a torn left Achilles’ tendon before making his comeback on December 8, hyper-extended his left knee during Tuesday’s 96-92 win against the Grizzlies in Memphis.
Bryant, a 15-time All-Star and five-time National Basketball Association champion, had an magnetic resonance imaging test on Thursday and was also examined by a team physician. “Results of the MRI show that Bryant has a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau of his knee,” the Lakers said in a statement. “He is expected to be out approximately six weeks.”
Bryant’s latest injury comes as a major blow for the Lakers (12-13), who only last month signed the league veteran to a lucrative two-year contract extension. “You hate it for Kobe,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He’s worked so hard to get back.”
Xavier Henry will take over as starting point guard in Bryant’s absence, the Lakers said.
Bryant’s widely anticipated return from his Achilles’ tendon injury gave the Lakers a significant boost, though they have struggled to a win-loss record of 2-4 since then.
Making matters worse for the Lakers is that all three of their point guards have been sidelined by injury — Steve Nash (nerve damage in back), Steve Blake (torn ligament in right elbow) and Jordan Farmar (torn hamstring).
On the courts on Thursday, San Antonio’s Tiago Splitter tipped in a rebound with 2.1 seconds left to give the Spurs to a 104-102 victory over Golden State, taking a valuable win that came in the absence of their experienced star trio.
In the day’s other game, Oklahoma City extended its win streak to eight games by beating Chicago 107-95.
Golden State came out on the losing end of a thrilling finish, with Stephen Curry hitting a 3-pointer to tie the game before San Antonio snatched the win on the next possession, as Splitter jumped around the rim to get the decisive touch after two teammates had missed chances to sink the winning basket.
San Antonio was missing Tony Parker for the second straight game with a bruised shin, while Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were rested, yet the Spurs still managed to pull out a big road win and hand the Warriors another devastating defeat in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference semifinals.
Marco Belinelli scored 28 points for San Antonio, against his old team, while Kawhi Leonard and Patty Mills both topped 20 points in a season high for all three.
David Lee had 32 points and 13 rebounds for the Warriors, while Curry scored 30 points and tied his career high with 15 assists.
Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 32 points in the win over Chicago.
Russell Westbrook had 20 points for the Thunder, who improved to 13-0 at home this season; the only NBA team with a perfect home record.
Joakim Noah had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the injury-hit Bulls, who have lost four straight.
Chicago played without Kirk Hinrich (back tightness) and Luol Deng (sore Achilles).
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
