MRI confirms Portland G Wesley Matthews sustained a ruptured left Achilles’ tendon. He is out for the season.
— Trail Blazers PR (@TrailBlazersPR) March 6, 2015
Per the Portland Trail Blazers Twitter Account, starting Shooting Guard Wes Matthews suffered a ruptured Achilles during the 3rd Quarter vs. the Dallas Mavericks, late Thursday night/early Friday morning, and has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2015 season.
It was a non-contact injury, and while it looked like a harmless stop and cut — the damage is [reported to be] as severe as it gets…
Here’s a look at the play…
Regardless of whether you are a Blazers fan or not, you gotta feel for Wes here…
He was having arguably the best season of his career, averaging a career-high:
2.9 3-point makes per game
5.7 Field Goal makes per game
+4.1 Box Plus Minus per game
In addition to his performance, Wes was an absolute iron man for a franchise that has been plagued with injuries to their superstars (Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge’s torn ligament in hand, etc…) — for upwards of a decade. Up until the injury tonight, Wes had started EVERY SINGLE GAME for the team since the 2011-2012 Season. Thus, this impressive streak has most-likely come to a sudden, devastating end.
The saddest part about all of this: Matthews is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of this season. His career-best year had him in line for a HUGE payday, and now — we don’t know when he’ll be back out on the court, if at all…
Arron Afflalo, who Portland traded for at the deadline in exchange for a first round draft pick, will likely move into the starting lineup and replace Matthews. Since joining the Blazers in February from the Denver Nuggets, Afflalo is averaging 27.6 minutes 9.2 points, and 2.6 rebounds per game.
The Blazers ultimately defeated Dallas by a score of 94-75, but, I don’t think anyone in Portland is interested in celebrating right now.
Get well soon, Wes…
Wes. pic.twitter.com/al8EQQ9nH8
— Bruce Ely (@bruceely) March 6, 2015