OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder backup point guard Eric Maynor will miss the rest of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
General manager Sam Presti said tests Sunday morning revealed Maynor had torn the ligament in the fourth quarter of Oklahoma City’s 98-95 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night and will need season-ending surgery.
Maynor is the primary backup to all-star Russell Westbrook and was averaging 4.2 points and 2.4 assists in 15 minutes a game this season. Maynor finished each of his first two NBA seasons in the top 10 in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio. He had averaged more than three assists for every turnover both seasons.
“Eric’s a smart player. He understands that position and understands that role because he’s been with it for a while with us. He was great with that unit,” coach Scott Brooks said. “We have to figure out how we’re going to move forward with it but Eric is a really, really good player and it’s not easy losing him.”
•Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut will return to the NBA team as soon as he sorts out some family issues, his Australian-based manager said.
Bruce Kaider said he hopes that will be soon. He said Bogut is completely fit, but the Aussie is in his hometown of Melbourne and dealing “with those things we all have to go through in life, certain personal issues that he is experiencing at the moment.” Kaider did not elaborate.
Gehring, Cho skate to national titles
KEARNS, Utah — Lana Gehringskated to an easy victory in the women’s 1,000-meter race to lock up the overall title at the U.S. short track national championships. It is the first national title for the 21-year-old Gehring, who also won the 500, 1,500, 3,000 super final and a time trial this weekend at the Utah Olympic Oval.
“It’s short track,” Gehring said. “You never know who’s going to finish. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good you’re skating. It’s been a great weekend for me.”
Katherine Reutter, the four-time defending national champion, finished second in the 1,000 but fifth overall. The two-time Olympic medalist and defending 1,500 world champion will have surgery on both hips as soon as possible and miss the rest of the season.
Simon Cho won the men’s 1,000 — his third win this weekend — to claim the men’s overall title despite being diagnosed Aug. 1 with a lower-back fracture.
Footnotes
Louis Oosthuizen holed a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to top fellow South African Tjaart van der Walt and retain his title at the Africa Open in East London, South Africa. The former British Open champion beat van der Walt by two shots after closing with a 6-under-par 67 for a 27-under total of 265 at the season-opening European Tour event.
•DePaul senior forward Keisha Hampton will miss the rest of the season after undergoing exploratory right knee surgery. She averaged 16.6 points this season and has 1,574 points in her career.
•Suspended first-division soccer goalkeeper Omar “El Gato” Ortiz has been arrested for alleged participation in a kidnapping ring, Mexican police announced.
