His downcast face contorted in pain and dripping with sweat, Timberwolves star center Al Jefferson was helped to the locker room late in Sunday’s 101-97 loss at New Orleans with what the team called a twisted knee. He will be re-examined this morning in the Twin Cities.
His right knee buckled when he landed on one leg after he tried to block a shot with 27.2 seconds remaining in a tied game. He later said he heard a “pop” in the knee. He also said it didn’t feel as bad after the game as when he suffered a mildly sprained medial collateral ligament before training camp started last fall.
“You think the worst all the time,” Jefferson said when asked his first thought after he landed on that knee. “Let’s hope it’s not as bad as it seemed. I couldn’t put any pressure on it last time. This feels a lot better. It’s nothing like it was last time. I’m going to try to not worry about it until I get my X-ray tomorrow.”
Time seemed to stand still when Jefferson crashed to the floor after a defensive possession with 27.2 seconds remaining. He was vying for a ball with New Orleans center Sean Marks. He came down with his right leg on the inside of Marks’ right foot. The knee appeared to twist on impact. Jefferson tried to get up and walk but returned his body to the court, holding the knee with both hands, grimacing and rocking back and forth.
His first thought?
“You think the worst all the time,” Jefferson said.
He added: “Yeah. I felt a pop. Nothing like it was last time; I couldn’t put pressure on it last time. It makes me feel a lot better” that he can put some pressure on it now.
Jefferson said he would wait to see how the knee feels this morning, but will likely get a magnetic resonance imaging regardless.
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