Already without two-time MVP Lynn Washington, the face of the franchise and the most famous player in league history after his March 13 arrest on suspicion of smuggling marijuana into Japan, the Osaka Evessa now are coping with the loss of center Wayne Marshall for an estimated four weeks.
Marshall, a Temple University product in his second season with Osaka, suffered a bone fracture in his left hand last weekend against the league-leading Ryukyu Golden Kings.
Osaka (29-13 overall, 17-5 in away contests) clinched a playoff berth by beating the Golden Kings 75-70 in the series finale on Sunday. And now, the Evessa must find a way to win without two of their biggest players, the 206-cm Washington and the wide-bodied Marshall, a 211-cm, 120-kg force in the middle.
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