NBA: Wizards’ John Wall expected to miss six to eight weeks after knee surgery

Washington Wizards point guard John Wall will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Wednesday and could miss much of the rest of the regular season.

The Wizards announced Tuesday that Wall would have the operation in Cleveland and that a timeline for his return would be determined afterward.

A person with direct knowledge of the injury said Wall could miss six to eight weeks. That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not release any estimate of the length of Wall’s absence. Washington’s last regular-season game is April 11.

“It just proves that he wasn’t the John that we know,� backup guard Tomas Satoransky said. “His knee was bothering him all season long.�

This is the latest knee problem for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft out of Kentucky. Wall had surgery on both of his knees before last season.

Coach Scott Brooks delivered Tuesday’s news to other players at a shootaround ahead of Washington’s night game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“It’s definitely not an easy day,� Brooks said at his pregame session with the media. “Over the last week, we saw he was dragging a little bit. Decided going forward that it would be best for him to get a little cleanout.�

Wall is second on the Wizards in scoring, averaging 19.4 points, and is second in the league with 9.3 assists per game. In July, he agreed to a $170 million, four-year contract extension that starts next season.

He was selected last week for his fifth NBA All-Star Game but will miss that event in Los Angeles next month. Commissioner Adam Silver chose Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond to replace Wall on LeBron James’ team.

The Wizards entered Tuesday tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 27-22 record.

“We don’t have the cushion that John can take over a game,� Brooks said, “or John can create a shot (for himself) or for the other guys.�

Cavaliers’ Kevin Love suffers broken hand against Pistons

Kevin Love left Cleveland’s game at Detroit on Tuesday night with a broken left hand.

Love went down the tunnel toward the locker room during the first quarter. He had X-rays at the arena, which the Cavaliers say showed a non-displaced fracture in his fifth metacarpal. The team says his status will be updated after additional examination Wednesday in Cleveland.

Love played only 4:41 on Tuesday night and went scoreless.

The 29-year-old Love has missed only one game this season, and he’s the Cavs’ second-leading scorer behind LeBron James. With the trade deadline looming, Cleveland has been in a funk lately. The Cavs had lost 10 of 15 heading into Tuesday’s game, and they trail Boston and Toronto atop the Eastern Conference.

Love’s injury will likely affect the Cavs’ plans as the Feb. 8 trading deadline approaches. The Eastern Conference champions may have to make a significant move to replace Love, who could be out for more than a month.

Kings coach Joerger to return next week after dizzy spell

Sacramento Kings coach Dave Joerger will resume his coaching duties next week after a medical evaluation determined that he is in fine health.

Joerger left two minutes into a game against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday after becoming lightheaded.

Joerger slapped his hands together after a non-call, took two steps toward midcourt and then turned toward his bench and dropped to one knee. He braced himself with one hand on the court and another on a staff member before rising with the help of assistant Elston Turner. He was evaluated and flew back to Sacramento on Monday.

Turner will coach the team until Joerger returns.

All 30 clubs will play in Las Vegas Summer League

The NBA’s Summer League is getting bigger.

The league announced Tuesday that all 30 teams will play in Las Vegas this summer for the first time. The NBA is also adding an extra day to the schedule for the event, which this year will run from July 6-17 at UNLV.

All teams will play at least five games, and some will play as many as eight depending on how far they advance in the playoff portion of summer league.

There were 24 NBA teams represented in Las Vegas last summer. Teams that did not participate there were New York, Detroit, Indiana, Charlotte, Orlando and Oklahoma City.

Orlando’s summer league has ceased operations. Utah’s will continue and precedes the full NBA event, and all teams that play in Salt Lake City will then head to Las Vegas.

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