Orlando Magic forward Rashard Lewis banged his left knee trying to shoot in Orlando's impressive 107-78 win over the Chicago Bulls last night, which forced him out of the game and into the locker-room tunnel, where he did some jogging trying to loosen it up. However, the injury likely won't prompt Lewis to miss any games. From Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel:
"I think it’s fine," Lewis told me. "I think I’ll just give it a day and see how it feels tomorrow."
Magic athletic trainer Keon Weise didn’t think Lewis sustained any structural damage, coach Stan Van Gundy said afterward.
"I don’t know if I twisted it or what, but I just felt a sharp pain underneath my kneecap when I came down on it. I tried to run on it, but it was too painful. So, I told Coach to take me out. I didn’t know what was going on at the time, so I didn’t want to damage it any more, because it was hurting.
Lewis himself took to Twitter to assure Magic fans of his health: "I will be out there tomorrow with my team mates to get another win," read one message he posted this morning, in part.
So it appears as though Lewis will play tomorrow night when the Magic visit the Detroit Pistons. The statuses of Mickael Pietrus and J.J. Redick (stomach ailments) are in doubt, however.
Lewis ranks as Orlando's fourth-leading scorer, with an average of 12.3 points per game. After a slow start, he's finally picked up his three-point accuracy, shooting 40.2 percent from beyond the arc. In three seasons with the Magic, he's only missed four games due to injury.