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Wednesday, November 1, 2000
Blazers' injury woes grow



PORTLAND, Ore. -- Scottie Pippen hobbled around on his sore left ankle Wednesday, worsening the Portland Trail Blazers' injury situation as they prepared to play 10 of their next 13 games on the road.

Pippen sprained his ankle barely seven minutes into the Blazers' season-opening 96-86 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. He grabbed a rebound under the Portland basket, turned to pass and a referee stepped on his foot.

"Just a freak accident," Pippen said after Wednesday's practice, in which he shot around but did not take part in full-court drills. "It's still pretty sore. I'm just going to go day by day and see what happens."

If Pippen can't play in Thursday's game at Phoenix, veteran Stacey Augmon will start at small forward, coach Mike Dunleavy said.

The Blazers would be undermanned even with Pippen in the lineup. Center Arvydas Sabonis is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, and might not be ready for a few more weeks. Reserve point guard Greg Anthony also is hurting after having off-season surgery to remove bone spurs from both ankles.

"Losing 'Sabas' was a setback for us, so we have to get everybody back and healthy and try to find some rhythm to our game," Pippen said. "Right now we're not where we need to be."

Dunleavy said he might take Sabonis on a seven-game, 10-day Eastern Conference road trip that begins at New Jersey on Nov. 13. It will be the Blazers' longest trip of the season.

"I am not overly confident, that's for sure," Dunleavy said. "When you're missing guys, that's the time to step up and show your mettle, and that's what I'm looking for."

Portland had been waiting for months to get another shot at the Lakers, whose stirring comeback from a 15-point deficit in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals against the Blazers set the table for their NBA title run.

Shaquille O'Neal scored 36 points and Isaiah Rider scored seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a big 3-pointer that put the Lakers ahead 85-77 with 3:30 to play.

"I'm sure if Shaq hadn't played last night and Kobe (Bryant) would have been out, it could have been a different story, and that's kind of the equivalent of us losing Arvydas and Scottie," Anthony said.

With starting point guard Damon Stoudamire struggling through a 3-for-13 shooting night, Anthony was on the floor most of the fourth quarter, even though he was exhausted.

"It's not a lot of fun," he said. "It's going to be a long process for me. To be honest, it's my goal to try and be ready by Christmas time."

Shawn Kemp, acquired from Cleveland in a trade that sent Brian Grant to Miami, also could be weeks away from being in game shape. He scored 4 points on 2-of-9 shooting Tuesday night and picked up four fouls in 12 minutes trying to guard O'Neal.

"Other than (defense), I thought I was doing fine out there," Kemp said, but added: "Last night was a reality check."

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