LaMarcus Aldridge exited the Spurs’ matchup against the Wizards in the second quarter with a knee injury and did not return to the game. He is questionable for the team’s Friday matchup against Oklahoma City.
LaMarcus Aldridge exits with knee injury vs. Wizards, is questionable vs. Thunder
Aldridge suffered a knee contusion that doesn’t appear to be too serious.
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
San Antonio called Aldridge’s injury a knee contusion, and while the severity of the blow is immediately unclear, this is awful news for the Spurs, who are hoping to secure and improve their playoff seeding.
It isn’t completely clear exactly when Aldridge injured his knee. One guess is at the 3:40 mark of the third quarter while jostling for post position with Washington’s Markieff Morris. Aldridge’s knee sort of buckles while they battle on the low block, and even though he seems fine immediately afterwards, his limp starts a few moments later.
The Spurs dodged a bullet
The Spurs’ loss to the Wizards knocked them down to 17.5 games behind the Rockets. That gives San Antonio the same number of losses as the Utah Jazz and puts them just one game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The West playoff picture is a wild one with seeds Nos. 4 through 8 separated by just two games. Every victory is a big one; every loss hurts more.
San Antonio is already without Kawhi Leonard, whose quadriceps injury has been far more complicated than most imagined. A devastating injury to Aldridge would have been brutal for their playoff standing.
The Spurs are virtually safe from falling out of the playoff picture. They’d need to do a whole lot of losing, coupled with some timely Nuggets and/or Clippers victories, for that to happen. But enough losses will inevitably drop the Spurs from the No, 6 seed (a battle against Portland) to the seventh or eighth seed, and an early playoff exit at the hands of either the Rockets or Warriors.
The Spurs want neither of those teams in the playoffs, though a case can be made that neither Houston nor Golden State want San Antonio in the first round, either. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear Aldridge’s injury will keep him off the floor for too long.
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