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Wednesday, November 1, 2000
Blazers' injury woes grow
Associated Press
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PORTLAND, Ore. -- Scottie Pippen hobbled around on his sore
left ankle Wednesday, worsening the Portland Trail Blazers' injury
situation as they prepared to play 10 of their next 13 games on the
road.
Pippen sprained his ankle barely seven minutes into the Blazers'
season-opening 96-86 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday
night. He grabbed a rebound under the Portland basket, turned to
pass and a referee stepped on his foot.
"Just a freak accident," Pippen said after Wednesday's
practice, in which he shot around but did not take part in
full-court drills. "It's still pretty sore. I'm just going to go
day by day and see what happens."
If Pippen can't play in Thursday's game at Phoenix, veteran Stacey Augmon will start at small forward, coach Mike Dunleavy
said.
The Blazers would be undermanned even with Pippen in the lineup.
Center Arvydas Sabonis is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on
his left knee, and might not be ready for a few more weeks. Reserve
point guard Greg Anthony also is hurting after having off-season
surgery to remove bone spurs from both ankles.
"Losing 'Sabas' was a setback for us, so we have to get
everybody back and healthy and try to find some rhythm to our
game," Pippen said. "Right now we're not where we need to be."
Dunleavy said he might take Sabonis on a seven-game, 10-day
Eastern Conference road trip that begins at New Jersey on Nov. 13.
It will be the Blazers' longest trip of the season.
"I am not overly confident, that's for sure," Dunleavy said.
"When you're missing guys, that's the time to step up and show
your mettle, and that's what I'm looking for."
Portland had been waiting for months to get another shot at the
Lakers, whose stirring comeback from a 15-point deficit in Game 7
of the Western Conference finals against the Blazers set the table
for their NBA title run.
Shaquille O'Neal scored 36 points and Isaiah Rider scored seven
of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a big 3-pointer
that put the Lakers ahead 85-77 with 3:30 to play.
"I'm sure if Shaq hadn't played last night and Kobe (Bryant)
would have been out, it could have been a different story, and
that's kind of the equivalent of us losing Arvydas and Scottie,"
Anthony said.
With starting point guard Damon Stoudamire struggling through a
3-for-13 shooting night, Anthony was on the floor most of the
fourth quarter, even though he was exhausted.
"It's not a lot of fun," he said. "It's going to be a long
process for me. To be honest, it's my goal to try and be ready by
Christmas time."
Shawn Kemp, acquired from Cleveland in a trade that sent Brian
Grant to Miami, also could be weeks away from being in game shape.
He scored 4 points on 2-of-9 shooting Tuesday night and picked up
four fouls in 12 minutes trying to guard O'Neal.
"Other than (defense), I thought I was doing fine out there,"
Kemp said, but added: "Last night was a reality check."
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