Pro Basketball

Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers will be out of action until at least April 14 because of a slightly torn knee ligament that he injured Sunday, the club said after he underwent a magnetic resonance imaging test.

“It’s a minimum of two weeks--and I want to emphasize minimum--before we would even consider letting him get involved in basketball,” team doctor Jack McPhilemy said.

“We use the term ‘second-degree sprain,’ which by definition means that some of the fibers of the ligament are, in fact, torn. But it’s not a complete tear, it’s a partial disruption.

“But I think he feels a sense of relief, because he realizes it’s not one of those career-ending type things. There’s every possibility in the world he’ll be back this season.’