The Portland Trail Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge tore the radial collateral ligament in his left thumb during Monday's win over the Sacramento Kings. The diagnosis was that the injury would require surgery, which would take the all-star center out of action for six to eight weeks.

The thumb still needs surgery, he's just decided to postpone it until the end of the season so he can keep playing.

That was the surprise announcement by the Blazers yesterday tweeting, "BREAKING: LaMarcus Aldridge (ligament tear left thumb) puts surgery on hold; will play tonight versus Washington."

He had 26 points and nine rebounds in his return after missing two games. The Blazers lost the previous two games that Aldridge missed.

"I wanted to test it out at home, and versus these guys because I felt they were a physical team, and if I could play against these guys, then that would be good. And I was OK," said Aldridge.

Before the win, the Blazers have lost five of their last six games. Despite that stretch, the team is still third in the ultracompetitive Western Conference.

"My idea now is to play the rest of the season," Aldridge said. "But if it gets too much where I can't handle it or I'm not playing at a very good level then I'll stop. But hopefully it goes well for us."

Meanwhile, in Detroit the news is not as good.

The Detroit Pistons are bracing themselves for the worst, fearing that guard Brandon Jennings suffered a torn Achilles' tendon that could end his season, Yahoo Sports reports.

Jennings was seen crumpling to the floor in the third quarter of a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday. He is scheduled to return to Detroit for an MRI on his left Achilles.

"It doesn't look good. It's a major, major loss," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters.

Jennings has played a vital role in turning the Pistons' season around. He has season averages of 15.4 points and 6.6 assists per game.