Blazers’ Fernandez injured (Updated)

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PORTLAND, Ore. — Rudy Fernandez was taken from the court on a stretcher after falling heavily to the floor after Trevor Ariza fouled him on a layup try in the closing seconds of the third quarter. Ariza drew a flagrant-2 foul and was ejected.

It remains to be seen whether Ariza will be suspended. It’s also possible Lamar Odom could be suspended for leaving the bench area after Portland’s Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge confronted Ariza along the baseline near the Lakers’ bench.

Odom appeared to be playing the role of peace-maker, but NBA punishment czar Stu Jackson won’t care why Odom moved into the fray. Jackson will only care that Odom left the bench. No punches were thrown. Aldridge also could be suspended for escalating matters with a push to Ariza, which prompted the scrum in front of the Lakers’ bench.

UPDATE: Fernandez was taken to a local hospital, where X-rays and a CT scan were negative. He has a soft tissue injury to his upper right chest inside area, according to a Trail Blazers spokeswoman. He will be kept overnight in the hospital for observations.

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  • Will

    The Lakers act like they don’t want home-court advantage. They played with a total lack of intensity and effort. And worse, they posted less than 40 points in the first half. This is a stagant Lakers team I seen before like the team that played the same way in Game 6 of the Finals. With Bynum or not, we must handle road adversity. Our last few road losses were terrible. We have the Cavs and Celtics on our backs. And we can’t allow the Spurs to gain ground on us either. I bet Ariza noticed why he made such a ill-advised play, knowing that his team is losing by 20+ points. Jackson was definitely fuming with his halftime deficit. He should hold extra practices and longer shootarounds because he has the reputation of coaching the best team in the NBA. Portland spells hell for the Lakers. The Rose Garden is a thorny patch where the Lakers just can’t get through.

  • J

    That was not even a flagrant 1. He hit his arms, not his head. Good luck to him tho

  • lakerplaya

    J,
    Thats what I initially thought to, but watch the replay, he drilled him across the head before he hit the arms. It was just unnecessary when you are down by 30 with little chance of coming back. Trevor will be lucky if he doesnt get suspended too.

  • Oh ok…

    This happens at leaast once a game in every NBA game and happens to the Lakers at least twice a game because they are always on fast breaks. It happens to Steve Nash alot too. Everyone stop crying it was a very unclucky play for Rudy F. He is long and lengthy, so when he fell his neck kind of snapped wierd, but even so he was tapping his chest. The injury happened because of the fall. The lakers always know someone is gonna try to stop them from getting an easy two, so they brace themselves. Ariza kind of came from out of nowhere, so Rudy didn’t have a chance. Freak play. Ariza had a right to go for the ball He makes a play like that at least twice a game. They were down by 28 but the lakers have come back from that before with a full quarter to go. They even cut it in half last night. No one should ever concede in the 3rd qrtr no matter what the score especially with the Lakers offense.

    Portland is a very good team at home, and will get better on the road as soon as they mature. I look forward to this Rivalry. The more rivals for the Lakers the better, it makes the games fun to watch. Stop crying.