Back Surgery Sidelines Rudy Fernandez

Bodies keep dropping in Portland: “Trail Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez will miss four-to-six weeks after undergoing a microdiscectomy on Tuesday afternoon to relieve pressure from a nerve root in his back. The team’s best outside shooter, and one of its best all-around players, Fernandez has missed the past two games with sciatic pain, which is causing pain in his right leg. The procedure comes one day after he received a second opinion. The prognosis targets his return in early to mid-January, meaning he will miss at least 17 games because of the injury. Fernandez is the seventh member of the Blazers to undergo a surgery this season, and the third in the past two days.”