Rudy Gay will miss the rest of the 2010-11 season as the Memphis Grizzlies forward needs surgery to repair his injured shoulder, reports the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. Gay hasn't played since before the All-Star break. The Grizzlies initially announced that Gay would be out four weeks, but the forward hadn't healed enough to lift his arm without discomfort or make sudden movements. That's quite a problem for a basketball player.
The subtext is that the Grizzlies are in position to make the playoffs for the first time in Gay's career; the 2006 NBA Draft product was a big part of Memphis' early-season run that put the team in place to contend. But Memphis has actually survived since losing Gay, going 8-6 to hang on to a two-game lead over the Houston Rockets for the No. 8 seed in the West.
But missing Gay severely restricts Memphis' hopes of moving up in the West bracket, or of challenging the mighty San Antonio Spurs, the likely first-round opponent. Houston has won four straight, and the Grizzlies have a brutal schedule coming up, with games against the Celtics, Heat and Spurs in the next week.
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