NBA Roundup: Thunder loses Westbrook for season, more injuries for Lakers
The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Saturday that guard Russell Westbrook had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee and is out for the rest of the season. It's the first time in Westbrook's five-year NBA career that he will miss a game.
The 24-year-old Westbrook missed his first NBA game Saturday night in the Thunder's first round playoff series with the Houston Rockets. The Thunder came into the game leading the series 2-0.
Westbrook, a three time All-Star, averaged 23.2 points, 7.4 assists, a career-high 5.2 rebounds and 1.77 steals in the regular season.
---Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Nash and forward Metta World Peace will not play Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs, according to twcsportsnet.com.
The Lakers were without Kobe Bryant (Achilles), Nash (hamstring), Steve Blake (hamstring) and Jodie Meeks (ankle) in Friday's loss in the best-of-7 playoff series.
World Peace went scoreless with no rebounds and one assist in 17 minutes of Friday's defeat. He was benched in the second half. He had fluid drained from a cyst in his left leg Friday morning, but it is reportedly not related to the knee surgery he had in March.
San Antonio leads the series 3-0.
---San Antonio Spurs center Tiago Splitter will miss the rest of the team's first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers with a sprained left ankle.
Splitter left Friday's victory over the Lakers and did not return because of the injury. After the game, he was unable to put any weight on the ankle. Team doctors said Splitter will miss at least a week, meaning he will not be back until the second round.
San Antonio leads the series 3-0. Game 4 is on Sunday.
---The Philadelphia 76ers announced that they completed the purchase of the operating rights of the Delaware 87ers, a team that will compete in the NBA's Development League.
The 87ers, a new team, will join the D-League in the fall. Aaron Moszer was named the team's president. The team's operating rights were previously owned by the Utah Flash, which took a hiatus two years ago.
The 87ers will play their home games at the Bob Carpenter Center, on the University of Delaware campus, in Newark, Del. The team will be nicknamed the "Sevens." The name 87ers refers to 1787, the year Delaware was the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
