Wesley Matthews Limited In Return To Practice After Irregular Heartbeat
AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens
Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews made his way back to the practice court on Friday for the Blazers, although is participation was limited in a practice open to the media.
Matthews was on the practice court, participating in half-court drills at full speed but did not go “up-and-down” on Friday.
The drills that Matthews did on Friday in the halfcourt were “live”. Defensive drills such as the half-court drill they did on Friday where all five defenders meet in the middle before rushing to close out at the three-point line.
Matthews said that he is hopeful he can suit up for the Blazers Fan Fest scrimmage on Sunday evening at 6PM at the Moda Center.
“That’s the goal. I want to. See what the Doc’s have for me. Even if I go up and down 3 times that will be good,” Matthews said.
Matthews said that although it is a heart issue, that having gone through it before has lessened the worry for him.
“I think having gone through it before. I know kind of what’s going on. It was a fluke situation and I’m not worried, there’s nothing to worry about. I’m just ready to get back out there,” he said.
Matthews began the practice by warming up on a stationary bike while the Blazers did a full-court warm-up.
Erik Gundersen
Erik Gundersen is the Trail Blazers beat reporter for The Columbian. He's a graduate of the Allen School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon in addition earning a degree in Spanish. He's covered the NBA for four seasons. You can also occasionally find his work on ESPN.com's NBA section for their TrueCities series. He also fist-bumped with Kanye West once. Follow @BlazerBanter on twitter for more Blazers and NBA news.