<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As Trevor Ariza grimaced in pain and fell to the court Wednesday night, the spirit of the Magic following fell a little as well. In his seventh start of the season, the up and coming Ariza had to be carried off the court after spraining the MCL (medial collateral ligament) of his right knee. Ariza awkwardly fell with under a minute remaining in the first half of the eventual 91-76 win over the Golden State Warriors. He tried to play through the pain, but pulled-up and eventually collapsed to the floor. After undergoing an MRI it was determined a Grade 2 sprain of his MCL. While no surgery will be required, Ariza will be out for 6-8 weeks. As the Magic have caught fire once again, starting out the month of January 4-0 after a 6-10 injury-plagued December, no player has provided more of a spark for this resurging fire than Ariza. Since mid-December, Ariza?s averages have done more than steadily increase, they?ve doubled in almost every category. He went from averaging 5.1 points per game over his first 15 games to 13.8 ppg over his last nine games. Where?s it coming from? ?I?m getting more opportunities,? said Ariza. ?The basket is just opening up to me. My confidence is definitely rising and I don?t know if it?s because I?m playing hard or cutting hard but I?m getting easy baskets.?</div> Read the rest
