Maurice Harkless will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery on his left knee, his return date to be determined.
Maurice Harkless was a late scratch for Tuesday night’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Blazers felt his absence: the team barely came away on top despite the Pelicans missing DeMarcus Cousins.
Heroics from Damian Lillard and a wild end of the game led to this 107-103 victory. Portland extended its lead in third place to 2.5 games over the OKC Thunder and 3.5 over New Orleans.
However, Harkless’ late scratch is more than a safe game-time decision by Terry Stotts. Joe Freeman of the Oregonian announced via Twitter that the forward will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery on his left knee.
Moe Harkless will have arthroscopic surgery Wednesday on his left knee “to remove a loose body.” A timeline for his recovery will be determined after the procedure.
— Joe Freeman (@BlazerFreeman) March 28, 2018
Recovery from such surgery ranges anywhere from ten days to six weeks. Playoffs start in less than three weeks, so let’s hope for the former.
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This injury comes at an inopportune time. Moe Harkless was playing his best basketball of the season, becoming a major contributor to Portland’s recent success.
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In nine March games, Harkless averaged 10.9 points, 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks. His shooting efficiency was by far the best of his career as well: he shot 58.3% from the field and 55.6% from three across those nine games.
Most importantly, Moe started regaining his confidence on the court during this span.
Throughout the middle of the season, Harkless let a bad attitude affect his play and support of the team. He turned it around after seeing this on film one day, a story well covered by Joe Freeman. Hopefully the post-surgery absence doesn’t plunge the young forward back down this hole.
Another aspect to worry about is Harkless’ injury reoccurrence. On December 5, he left the game early against Washington after colliding knees with Otto Porter. He sat the next two matchups with a left quad contusion and fell out of the rotation shortly after.
At the start of March, Moe exited the game versus Minnesota following a scary tweak of his left knee (sound familiar?). He missed the ensuing three matchups, but bounced back and continued his elevated level of play.
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His timetable will be narrowed down after the surgery tomorrow, so stay tuned for more information.
With the lead for third place growing, we hope Maurice Harkless is ready to return for the playoffs. Fortunately, the Blazers play the tanking Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow with Lillard and Harkless out.