South East Melbourne captain Mitch Creek will miss at least one game with the knee injury he suffered in the big loss to Melbourne United.
One of the NBL's best players, Creek pulled up sore and began clutching at his left knee in the final minutes of ladder-leading United's 106-78 defeat of their local rivals on Thursday night.
The 31-year-old was able to limp from the court, but will miss Saturday's clash with the Illawarra Hawks at Traralgon.
The Phoenix have not yet set a return date for the former Brooklyn Nets forward, who made the All-NBL First Team last season.
Any long-term injury would be disastrous for a South East Melbourne side entrenched inside the log-jam at the middle of the NBL ladder.
Creek is averaging 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season and has been the Phoenix's most important player, alongside import centre Alan Williams.
The clash with the Hawks is set to mark the NBL debut of South East Melbourne's replacement import Abdel Nader.
The 224-game NBA forward replaces American guard Will Cummings, who the Phoenix cut last week after he failed to meet off-court standards.
