Houston Rockets Big Man Hurts Self on Botched Dunk

Dunking can be dangerous. Ask the Houston Rockets' Donatas Motiejunas—after he ices his hand. And legs. He might need to ice his back and hip, too.

Midway through the second quarter of a preseason bout against the Indiana Pacers, Motiejunas rose up for what should have been a routine dunk. As he elevated, however, his left leg interlocked with the right one of C.J. Watson. 

Immediately after completing the slam, Motiejunas lost his grip on the rim and hit the floor hard. Not only did it look like he rolled over his left knee, he also landed on his left wrist after using it to brace his fall.

Motiejunas popped right back up and ran back down the floor, because as the announcer says, "Oh, it's good to be young." However, he was grimacing, and the Rockets were forced to stop the clock with a foul and take him out of the game.

"

Donatas Motiejunas seems to have hurt his left wrist falling after a dunk. Left the game.

— Leila Rahimi (@leilarahimiCSN) October 10, 2013"

Per the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen, the fall looked worse than it actually was and Motiejunas would return.

"

Motiejunas OK, will return. It looked bad at the time.

— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) October 10, 2013"

With the Rockets slated to experiment with twin tower-esque lineups, by allowing Dwight Howard and Omer Asik to share the floor, they're lucky Motiejunas' injury wasn't worse.

He's a 7-footer who can stretch opposing defenses, and Houston's second unit will need all the floor spacing it can get if it's serious about starting Superman at the 4. The starting lineup could need a gunner like Motiejunas, too—you know, for when the Rockets' go-big test run fails miserably. 

Let this be a lesson to us all before taking flight: Use your peripherals. Someone like Watson could come into view at a moment's notice and turn an easy two into a brutal, legs-locked thud.

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