Blazers Injury News: Nicolas Batum Injures Knee
Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum suffered a knee injury late Sunday night and is questionable for Tuesday
The Portland Trail Blazers have been relatively fortunate with their starters and injuries, though they had quite the scare Sunday night with Nicolas Batum suffering a right knee contusion. He was helped off the court, but luckily, an MRI didn’t show any serious damage and he’s listed as questionable for Tuesday night.
Blazers announce Batum diagnosed with a right knee "contusion" after an MRI and is questionable for Tuesday vs. Charlotte. Portland, exhale.
— Blazer Banter (@blazerbanter) November 10, 2014
The play happened late in the Blazers 116-100 win over the Denver Nuggets, when Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov accidentally kneed Batum from behind. It looked awful at the time, but it’s a sigh of relief that Batum should be ok.
Batum has been badly struggling from the field, shooting just 36.7 percent on the season, after shooting 46.5 percent last year. From inside the arc, it’s horrid — going from 56.6 percent down to 38.7.
Still, Batum has been more active in other areas of the game, providing his usual solid defense along with racking up 7.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He’s leading the Blazers in defensive rebounds per game, with 6.6.
Portland is 4-3 on the season and they’re holding opponents to just 94.6 points per game — good for third in the league. Having the 6-foot-8 Batum at small forward affords the Blazers the luxury of wreaking havoc on the passing lanes. Assuming the initial diagnosis is correct and Batum will be back sooner rather than later, the Blazers will be just fine.