Shane Battier’s sprained knee is going to keep him out at least 10 days to two weeks.
That according to Jason Friedman, your official NBA.com beat reporter for the Rockets. So he’s probably not making this up. Battier sprained the knee in the game against the Knicks Sunday. Friedman adds that Jared Jeffries likely will get a bump in minutes to fill the hole left by Battier.
The Rockets are 4.5 games out of a playoff spot, and Rockets fans want to believe. They probably shouldn’t. Their only real hope is to catch a San Antonio team that is five games ahead of them but with a wicked schedule down the stretch. Still, five games with just 12 remaining takes the kind of collapse from the team above you that the Spurs just will not do.
Which is to say, in two weeks you may not want or need to rush Battier back.