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| November 28, 2001 | Wednesday | Ramazan 12, 1422 |
Ravens win despite losing duo
OWINGS MILLS (Maryland), Nov 27: The Baltimore Ravens’ exciting win over Jacksonville Sunday proved to be a costly one as the Super Bowl champions lost defensive tackle Sam Adams and rookie running back Jason Brookins to injury, the team said Monday.
Adams, one of the premier run stoppers in the NFL, was scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Tuesday, Ravens coach Brian Billick revealed at a Monday news conference.
Billick said Adams would miss at least one game. He hopes to have Adams back in the lineup for a key December 16 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Brookins suffered a broken foot in Sunday’s 24-21 win over the Jaguars and Billick said he would be sidelined for at least four-to-six weeks.
Adams, who recorded two tackles and a sack Sunday, is the second defensive linemen lost to the Ravens in as many weeks.
Defensive end Michael McCrary, the team leader in sacks, was lost for the rest of the season last week after undergoing knee surgery for an injury he suffered in a November 18 game against Cleveland.
“We were incredibly healthy last year but now without two defensive starters we’ll have to fight through it,” said Billick, whose defense set the NFL record for fewest points allowed in a 16-game season on the way to a Super Bowl title.
The 6-foot-3, 330-pound Adams and the 6-foot-3, 340-pound Tony Siragusa anchor the middle of a Baltimore line that has not allowed an opponent to rush for 100 yards in 48 straight games, including the playoffs.
Brookins becomes the third running back Baltimore has lost this year.
Jamal Lewis, who led the Ravens ground attack last season, suffered a season-ending knee injury during training camp and veteran Terry Allen, who was brought in to replace Lewis, is sidelined with a fractured left hand.
“Terry Allen should be back for the Pittsburgh game,” Billick said.
In the absence of Lewis and Allen, Billick turned to Brookins, who has rushed for 536 yards on 144 carries.
He ran for 82 yards and scored two touchdowns in Sunday’s victory, but that may end up being his last game of the year.
The Ravens will likely turn to Moe Williams as the starter for this Sunday’s game against Indianapolis.
Williams has 52 yards on 19 carries this season.
With Sunday’s victory, the Ravens (7-4) stayed 1 1/2 games behind first-place Pittsburgh (8-2) in the AFC Central.
CAMBY MAKES WINNING START:
NEW YORK: The Knicks finally had their regular starting center in the lineup and Marcus Camby made the most of his season debut by contributing a double-double to New York’s 88-83 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Monday.
Camby, who missed the first 14 games of the season with a foot injury, collected 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 10 rebounds to help the Knicks rally from a 14-point second-quarter deficit.
But it was Latrell Sprewell, who had carried the big man-deprived team in Camby’s absence, who came up big at crunch time to lead New York to victory. Sprewell scored a season-high 29 points and took over down the stretch.
The energetic swingman scored his team’s final eight points, including a short jumper with 28 seconds left that put the Knicks in front 85-83 and three free throws in the final 13 seconds that sealed the win.
Camby was forced to play 35 minutes as forwards Kurt Thomas and Othella Harrington were in foul trouble throughout the game.
Allan Houston added 19 points and Mark Jackson dished out 11 assists for New York, winners of consecutive games for just the second time this season.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who earlier Monday was named the NBA’s Player of the Week for last week, scored 26 points to lead five Hawks in double figures and pulled down 10 rebounds.
In Memphis, Jason Williams sparked a decisive 13-2 game-ending run by scoring nine points and handing out key assists as the Grizzlies shocked the Sacramento Kings 98-94 for only their second win of the season.
Monday’s results (home team in CAPS):
NEW YORK 88 Atlanta 83
Detroit 105 ORLANDO 100
MEMPHIS 98 Sacramento 94
Phoenix 111 UTAH 104 (OT)
—Reuters
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