Blazers C Joel Freeland Out 4-8 Weeks With MCL Sprain
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
An MRI on injured Portland Trail Blazers center Joel Freeland revealed that he has an MCL sprain.
Freeland is expected to miss 4-8 weeks recovering from the injury.
Freeland injured his right knee in the first quarter of Portland’s loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The incident occurred when Freeland was on the ground and Nicolas Batum fell backwards into Freeland’s planted right leg.
Freeland instantly stayed on the ground and had to be carried to the locker room by his teammates.
Freeland has played in 50 of Portland’s 52 games averaging 14.5 minutes and four rebounds per game.
The back-up center duties will fall to second-year big man Meyers Leonard while Freeland recovers.
Joe Freeman of The Oregonian first reported the news via twitter.
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.