The Portland Trail Blazers received devastating news when Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports announced that Wesley Matthews will miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season.
Portland’s Wesley Matthews suffered a left torn Achilles tendon and will miss the rest of season, a league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 6, 2015
Matthews, a 6’5″ three-point specialist, ruptured his left Achilles during the third quarter of Thursday night’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The shooting guard sustained the injury on a non-contact play while receiving a pass and attempting to push off his foot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnQz31rwAkI
Matthews started all 60 games for the Blazers this year, averaging 15.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per outing. Matthews connected on 39.1 percent of his trifectas and 44.8 percent overall.
Consequent to Matthews’ season-ending injury, Portland’s postseason chances have taken a major hit. Terry Stotts’ team is looking to build off its second-round appearance in 2014, which was the first time the franchise had won a playoff series since 2000.
The Blazers picked up Arron Afflalo at the trade deadline, so Stotts has a proven shooting guard to replace Matthews. However, Portland’s bench now lacks a major scoring threat sans Afflalo, with sharpshooter Dorell Wright and shooting guard C.J. McCollum as the top options.
Photo: USA Today