When Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum had a scary fall on Saturday there was fear that he was going to be out a significant portion of time. Perhaps even the rest of the season. Knee injuries are always concerning, but major ones cha change someone’s entire career.
Luckily for McCollum, his injury turned out to be on the more minor side. It was announced Sunday that McCollum had suffered a strain in his left knee and that he would be evaluated again in a week. All things considered, it was the best possible result considering the possibility of a serious injury.
Sources: Portland guard CJ McCollum has a popliteus strain in his left knee. He will be re-examined in a week.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 17, 2019
McCollum himself even said he was lucky to come out of this relatively unscathed.
Portland guard CJ McCollum to Yahoo Sports after learning he suffered a left knee strain: “God looked out for me. Could’ve been a lot worse.” Will be re-evaluated in a week.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 17, 2019
McCollum is the Blazers second most important player behind Damian Lillard. When Lillard isn’t scoring, they look to McCollum to carry the load. Losing that scoring punch would be like losing a piece of their identity. With the Blazers sitting in the top half of the Western Conference playoff race they can’t afford to lose McCollum for a significant portion of time. That would be catastrophic to not only their chances at making a playoff run but getting favorable seeding.
Of course, who knows when McCollum will be back for certain. He’s supposed to be re-evaluated in a week, but a strain could nag at him for awhile and force him to sit out a little longer than that. The Blazers need to prepare for a late season run at playoff seeding and McCollum can hopefully return soon to play a role in that.
