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Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden injured his left knee early in the first quarter Saturday night as his team hosted the visiting Houston Rockets.
Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks, dribbling from the left side of the court, drove at the basket and Oden jumped to contest the shot. The Blazers big-man came down clutching his left knee.
Oden stayed down on the court for quite a while and was eventually wheeled away on a stretcher.
Joe Freeman of the Oregonian reports (via blog):
Trail Blazers center Greg Oden fractured the patella in his left knee Saturday night against the Houston Rockets and will likely miss the rest of the season.
Oden collapsed to the floor and clutched his left knee, grimacing, with 7:45 remaining in the first quarter after he slid over to provide help defense on a drive by Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks. It did not appear that Brooks made contact with Oden’s left knee on the drive, but that Oden’s knee simply gave out as he planted to elevate.
Blazers trainers and doctors sprinted to Oden from the far side of the court and, after he lay for several minutes, brought out a stretcher and carted him away. Several teammates helped Oden onto the stretcher and offered words of encouragement just before Oden exited from a corridor near the Houston bench.
UPDATE: The AP reports:
Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden will likely miss the season after fracturing his left patella during a game against Houston on Saturday night.
Oden will undergo surgery, the Trail Blazers said.
UPDATE: The AP reports:
He was almost immediately surrounded by trainers and physicians. The crowd at the Rose Garden stood and chanted “Oden! Oden!”
The game was stopped for some 7 minutes. Finally, Oden was gently moved to a stretcher and wheeled from the court. He underwent an MRI shortly thereafter.
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