INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, December 8, 2009 (AFP) - Danny Granger, the top scorer for the Indiana Pacers, will miss at least four to six weeks with a torn right plantar fascia, the NBA club announced Tuesday.

The foot arch injury will not require surgery and Granger will begin rehabilitation immidiately, the team said in a statement.

Granger, who has scored 24.4 points a game for the Pacers, was injured in the third quarter of Saturday's 88-72 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Pacers are off to a 6-12 start, last in the Central division and fourth-worst in the Eastern Conference.

Indiana will return to action Wednesday against Portland, which was due to be the homecoming for state high school hoops hero Greg Oden before he suffered a season-ending knee injury last Saturday in a 90-89 victory over Houston.

Spanish forward Fernandez works to ease leg pain
PORTLAND, Oregon, December 8, 2009 (AFP) - Portland Trail Blazers forward Rudy Fernandez is hopeful that a surgical procedure to ease pressure upon nerves in his back will ease the pain the Spaniard is feeling in his right leg.

Fernandez joined a growing list of Portland players on the injured list with the Tuesday procedure as the Trail Blazers' active lineup was trimmed to only nine players.

No recovery timetable was set for Fernandez until the results of the microdiscectomy were known.

Fernandez is averaging 8.6 points, 2.2 assists and 2.7 rebounds a game this season.

The Trail Blazers, 13-9 after losing four of their past five games, are already reeling from the loss of center Greg Oden for the entire season with a fractured kneecap in a win Saturday over Houston.

Four other players have nagging injuries, two of them who have spent the whole season on the injured list, and even coach Nate McMillan is coming off surgery

Monday to repair a ruptured Achilles' tendon injured while he took part in workouts because the club was so short-handed.

Dean Demopoulos, an assistant coach, will replace McMillan on a four-game road trip.