Trail Blazers' Aldridge suffered left hand injury Monday; X-rays negative
The Portland Trail Blazers finished Monday's game against the Sacramento Kings without star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge.
Aldridge injured his left hand in the second quarter and didn't return. He hurt himself while trying to strip DeMarcus Cousins of the ball, banging his left thumb off the big man's knee.
Aldridge was on fire, scoring 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field in 14 minutes, before exiting.
He had a towel around his left hand after the game, and underwent X-rays, which came back negative, the team announced. He'll be reevaluated Tuesday.
Stotts on Aldridge: "I'm concerned. When a guy's not able to come back into the game, I'm concerned." The injury involves Aldridge's thumb.
— Joe Freeman (@BlazerFreeman) January 20, 2015
Losing Aldridge for an extended length of time would be a major blow for the Trail Blazers, who beat the Kings and stopped a three-game skid. The three-time All-Star is averaging a career-high 23.5 points and team-leading 10.4 rebounds, while shooting an impressive 86.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Aldridge and point guard Damian Lillard are the biggest parts of the Trail Blazers' offense. Portland scores close to 10 more points per 100 possessions with Aldridge on the court, and his 29.8 percent usage rate is the top mark on the team.
The only good news for the Trail Blazers is that early-season injuries to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook allowed them to build a big cushion in the weak Northwest Division. Portland entered Monday leading the second-place Thunder by 9.5 games and sat in second in the Western Conference with a 30-11 record.