Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum has been diagnosed with a popliteus strain in his left knee and will be re-examined in a week, the team announced Sunday.
The diagnosis means McCollum, who suffered the injury Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs, avoided a serious injury, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“He’s so big for our team,” Blazers guard Damian Lillard said Saturday, after first stating he was worried for McCollum’s health. “You’re just concerned for that, too. That’s a big blow. He’s a guy that plays a huge role for us and is a big part of our team.”
McCollum exited under assistance with 7:03 remaining in the third quarter of the Blazers 108-103 loss at San Antonio. He remained on the court for a few minutes clutching his left leg in great pain after tumbling out of bounds when his driving left-handed layup was blocked by Jakob Poeltl. McCollum had his left foot trapped under Poeltl’s right foot as both landed, leading the Blazers guard to tumble out of bounds next to the stanchion.
McCollum said Saturday night he did not hear his knee pop but felt immediate pain and discomfort in it. X-rays taken at the arena were negative.
“I went up for a layup, a left-hand layup, and big fella (Poeltl) blocked it,” McCollum said Saturday. “I landed on my foot, kind of trapped my foot on the ground, felt my knee kind of twist. I was in pain. It hurts. You never want to get hurt, man. 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.”
Over the past four seasons, McCollum has played 309 out of a possible 315 games, including Saturday. He ranks third in total minutes played over that span, trailing only James Harden and Andrew Wiggins.
McCollum entered the contest averaging 21.5 points to go with 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists. He left the floor after scoring 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting in 22 minutes.
