TORONTO (AP) -Raptors forward Jermaine O’Neal strained his left knee when he was pulled down on a flagrant foul by New Jersey’s Sean Williams in the fourth quarter Friday night.
O’Neal, who is averaging 13.5 points and 9.5 rebounds, stayed down for a minute before walking gingerly to the bench. He returned after a timeout but missed both free throws before being replaced by Kris Humphries and hobbling into the locker room alongside the trainer. A team official said O’Neal would undergo further tests.
Williams appeared to yank the bottom of O’Neal’s jersey as O’Neal was going up for a shot under the basket early in the fourth. O’Neal fell back awkwardly, clutching at his left thigh, above a brace he wears on the knee.
O’Neal missed 40 games last season because of lingering pain from a torn ligament in his left knee that was surgically repaired the previous summer. He joined Toronto in an offseason trade that sent guard T.J. Ford to Indiana.
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