The Portland Trailblazers Power Forward LaMarcus Aldridge will be out 6-8 weeks requiring surgery after tearing his radial collateral ligament in his left thumb. Going into Thursday The Trailblazers were 2nd in The Western Conference, but with an already thin front court due to injuries to Robin Lopez and Joel Freeland they could be in for a long two months. Aldridge is averaging 23 points per game and 10 rebounds which certainly will be missed. The big question is how will The Trailblazers respond to the injury?
Sadly a lot of the scoring load will fall on the back court which they already do a lot for the team, but The Trailblazers will be tested with Thomas Robinson moving into the starting lineup. Robinson is averaging 3 points per game and 4 rebounds we’ve seen him play at a high level at times, but not to the same All Star level LaMarcus Aldridge is at. Portland’s bench will need to step it up as well obviously if they want to remain at the top of The Western Conference, but it’s certainly going to be a challenge with The Western Conference already as tough as it has been even with Aldridge we could see Portland take a dip in the West by the time 8 year veteran returns.
