Oden needs surgery, will miss season

PORTLAND ? Trail Blazers center Greg Oden, the former No. 1 draft pick whose short career has been marred by injuries, will have microfracture surgery on his left knee and will not play this season.Oden hasn't played since last December because he needed surgery to repair a fractured left patella. The Blazers said this operation, announced Wednesday night and scheduled for Friday in Vail, Colo., will repair damaged cartilage and is unrelated to the patella injury.Oden, the first name announced in the 2007 NBA draft, missed his rookie season because of microfracture surgery on his right knee. The procedure stimulates cartilage growth.He was having arguably the best season of his career when he broke his left kneecap during a game last December against the Houston Rockets. He was averaging 11.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks as a starter.The Blazers announced last month they would not offer Oden a contract extension. He was the first No. 1 pick since Kwame Brown not to get one at the end of his rookie contract.Oden will be a restricted free agent next summer and the Blazers will be able to match any offers for him.The Blazers also announced that All-Star guard Brandon Roy would miss the next two games because of a sore left knee. The former Huskies star from Garfield High School recently underwent an MRI exam and team doctors determined there is no immediate need for surgery. He will be evaluated again next week.A three-time All-Star, Roy left the Blazers' game at New Orleans on Saturday with a pronounced limp after playing 22 minutes.Roy, who averages 18.1 points, had expressed concern about his knees after playing significant minutes early in the season.Notes? Chris Bosh scored a season-high 35 points before sitting out the fourth quarter, LeBron James had 20 and the host Miami Heat ran away from Phoenix 123-96.? Kobe Bryant scored 33 points without playing in the fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Lakers took advantage of Richard Hamilton's early ejection in a 103-90 victory over the host Detroit Pistons. Rodney Stuckey, the former Eastern Washington star from Kentwood High School, scored 18 points for the Pistons.? Oklahoma City forward Jeff Green was out of the Thunder's lineup against Houston because of a sprained left ankle.? Washington guard John Wall (foot), the top overall draft pick last spring, and center Yi Jianlian (knee) were both out of the lineup against the Boston Celtics.? Less than four years after a storybook wedding in Paris, Eva Longoria filed court papers to divorce San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, citing irreconcilable differences.

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