WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Washington Wizards forward Christian Laettner will miss the next month after breaking his left fibula in Friday night's 96-80 victory over the New York Knicks.
Laettner suffered the injury early in the first quarter when he collided with Latrell Sprewell while the Knicks guard drove hard to the basket. He limped off and was diagnosed during the second half.
Prior to departing, Laettner scored two points on one shot. He entered the contest as Washington's fourth-leading scorer with 8.8 points per game and also is averaging 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
"It comes at a bad time because we are playing our best basketball," said Wizards coach Doug Collins, whose team has won five straight. "Now Kwame (Brown) and Etan (Thomas) are going to have to step up."
Laettner is in his first full campaign with Washington after being acquired from the Dallas Mavericks last season. He has been a fairly durable player throughout his career, playing in at least 74 games seven times.
"It's going to be tough with Laettner gone but I think that we're a young team and we want to get better and we have a lot to prove. We realize in every game we need to keep attacking and keep attacking."
