Utah’s Brown Injures Neck After Teammate Lands On Him

Dee Brown, Utah rookie, injured his neck after teammate Mehmet Okur landed on him in the first quarter of Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors.

Brown was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Brown had to be helped up from the court and then wheeled to a stretcher and taken to have an X-ray. Neurological tests conducted on Brown were normal but he was still taken to the hospital wearing a neck brace.

With Brown injured, the Jazz were shorthanded in the backcourt because Derek Fisher did not arrive at the arena until midway through the third quarter. Fisher was inactive for the first game of the series and one of his four children is having some health problems.

As Fisher came out of the tunnel, he did not even get the time to sit on the bench. Coach Jerry Sloan immediately entered him in the game with 3:18 left in the quarter.

The Jazz had activated Fisher for Game 2 but played with just 10 players between the time Brown got injured and Fisher arrived.

The 6 foot, 180 pounds Brown got injured after he tried to take a charge from Matt Barnes of the Warriors with 5:09 minutes left in the first quarter. However, Brown fell onto the court and 6 foot 11, 260 pounds Okur landed on him pushing Browns chin into his chest. Brown remained on the floor for several minutes before he was helped to get up and taken back to the locker room.