CJ McCollum suffered popliteus strain, according to report
When Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard CJ McCollum fell on the hardwood in the third quarter during Saturday’s 108-103 loss against the San Antonio Spurs, he felt immediate discomfort in his left knee.
Teammates Skal Labissiere and Meyers Leonard helped McCollum off the court. He underwent X-rays moments later, which came back negative. On Sunday, McCollum underwent an MRI on his knee.
According to ESPN’s Adrain Wojnarowski, McCollum suffered a popliteus strain in his left knee and will be re-examined next week. McCollum knows the injury could have been a lot worse — telling Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, “God looked out for me. Could’ve been a lot worse.”
After Saturday’s loss against the Spurs, McCollum told ESPN’s Michael C. Wright he was in pain.
"I didn't hear anything pop. It was just an immediate discomfort and pain. It was an uncomfortable feeling. You never want to leave the court like that, but it happens," McCollum said.
McCollum described the moment when he injured his knee — saying he went up for a layup, landed on his foot, trapped his foot on the ground, and felt his knee twist.
“I was in pain. It hurts. You never want to get hurt, man,” he said. “Not ever, especially at this point in the season. There's nothing I can do about it but rehab and see what they say. I can walk, but I'm not sure what the extent of it is. Obviously, on the replay it's hard to kind of see it because my foot is trapped and his body is there. But there's some discomfort, some pain in certain areas. So we'll see what happens. It's definitely around my knee, but I don't know the extent of it. I don't know if it's lateral. I don't know. I just know that it's not normal."
Luckily for McCollum, he was able to put some weight on his left leg — but he was walking gingerly to the locker room. At 42-27, the Trail Blazers sit in fourth place in the Western Conference — only 5.5 games back from securing the first seed. McCollum will probably sit out until the end of the regular season. But at least he’ll be healthy for the playoffs.
McCollum, 27, is averaging 21.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists this season.
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