MAGNOLIA import Shabazz Muhammad is taking a positive mindset about his current health situation with the PBA Governors Cup playoffs just around the corner.
The reinforcement sat out the Hotshots’ 110-94 win over NorthPort Friday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium owing to what he said was a case of knee tendinitis.
Muhammad said he began to feel something in his knee during the team’s previous game against TNT.
“Before the warm-up, it felt kind of really swollen. And I don’t know if I was gonna go,” he recalled.
The former NBA first-round pick of the Utah Jazz in the 2013 draft still played against the Tropang Giga and finished with 30 points and 17 rebounds in an 84-82 losing cause for Magnolia.
Muhammad said he was literally ‘playing with just one leg the whole game.’
“I was just trying to play for my team. We were still close in that game, but I thought, if I’m at full-strength, it would have been better for our team,” he stressed.
So far, Magnolia has gone 2-1 since Muhammad took over the spot of original import choice Glenn Robinson III.
Good thing against NorthPort, the Batang Pier also played without an import, as Venky Jois underwent surgery on his partial Achilles ruptured tendon on Friday morning.
“It’s really hard to sit out this game, but I’m happy we really took care of business,” said Muhammad.
Much-needed time to recover for Muhammad
The product of UCLA still has high hopes of returning to active duty for the Hotshots going to the playoffs.
“I went to see a doctor and there’s no ligament damage or something like that. It’s just swollen at this point,” said the Magnolia import.
“Hopefully, this weekend, the swelling would go down and (I'll) be ready for the playoffs.”
The Hotshots won’t play again until Monday when they face Converge in the final day of the group stage.
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