LaMarcus Aldridge Battles Through Hip Injury to Start Against Celtics, While Shaquille O’Neal Sits Out

by

Jan 27, 2011

While one prominent Celtic continues to sit with a recurring case of hip soreness, a key opposing player will bounce back from that same injury on Thursday night.

Trail Blazers star forward LaMarcus Aldridge has been complaining for over a week about pain in his bruised right hip, but after an X-ray and an MRI came back negative this week, the Blazers' leading scorer is expected to play against the C's on Thursday night in Portland.

Meanwhile, Shaquille O'Neal will not be with the C's, as his nagging hip pain continues to keep him out of action. Semih Erden will start in his place once again.

Aldridge has started all 46 games this season for the injury-plagued Blazers, leading the team with 39.0 minutes played per game. He's drawn a daunting matchup for Thursday night in C's All-Star power forward Kevin Garnett.

Here's the lineup card for C's-Blazers:

Celtics
Rajon Rondo, PG
Ray Allen, SG
Paul Pierce, SF
Kevin Garnett, PF
Semih Erden, C

Blazers
Andre Miller, PG
Wesley Matthews, SG
Nicolas Batum, SF
LaMarcus Aldridge, PF
Joel Przybilla, C

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