Perry Jones could miss a week or more of Thunder regular season with knee contusion injury

In yesterday's Oklahoma City Thunder game against the Toronto Raptors, Perry Jones was taken to the locker room and did not return.

Later on, it had been officially announced that Jones suffered a knee contusion.

Official word on Perry Jones is a right knee contusion. He will not return.

— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) November 5, 2014

What is a knee contusion? A knee contusion is also known as a patellar contusion that is basically a bruise on your kneecap. It usually occurs in result of a blow or a fall onto the knee. However, the contusion occurs when the skin of the knee and the underlying tissue sustains a direct blow on the knee which breaks the small blood vessels,  resulting in overflowing blood into the tissues, muscles, and the tendons of the knee. The bleeding is actually what causes the bruise and the pain in the knee.

After contacting my cousin Dr. Mohammed Al-Mutawa, who is an MD, I asked him to provide me with some information regarding knee contusions injuries. Please note that Dr. Al-Mutawa isn't involved in any way in Perry Jones' care.

"Knee Contusions usually take a week to heal if they are not severe." Dr. Mohammed Al-Mutawa said. "They are typically healed through cloth covering ice packs on the knee. Also, A person must avoid any sports or work activity."

Let us take a look at the recent NBA players who experienced such an injury. Indiana Pacers guard George Hill, who suffered a left knee contusion earlier this season, is expected to miss 3 weeks of the regular season. Charlotte Hornets' Kemba Walker suffered the same injury in the preseason but because it was minor, he only missed a few minutes of the game and returned.

In Jones' case, it is reasonable to think that if Jones' injury was severe, the expected recovery time would have been multiple weeks. However, Jones was walking away from the game under his own power.

The Thunder are now left with possibly 6 healthy players, since Reggie Jackson too appeared to be banged up in the Raptors loss. OKC has applied for a hardship exception to fill in the roster.