| 12 February 2009
There's nothing more to say about Big Al's injury than this: Kevin McHale and his staff will have to get awfully creative for the rest of the season. In a 110-102 defeat at the hand of the Toronto Raptors, we got a glimpse of at least one of the strategies that will be employed to deal with the loss of the starting center: don't be afraid to go small.
Al Jefferson is devastated. First he wasn't playing in the All-Star Game. Now he's not playing at all.
Minnesota's frontcourt force tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Sunday. Before that, Jefferson, 24, thought he had earned an All-Star berth on his scoring (23.1-point average), rebounding (11) and shot-blocking (1.7). His 30 double-doubles rank in the top five.
Jefferson, in his fifth season, never has been an All-Star. This season, the only other NBA players to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds are the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard and the San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan, both All-Star starters.
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