Nerlens Noel revealed Saturday that he has been dealing with knee tendinitis this season.

"I don't get it like that (regularly),” Noel said. “Just through soreness, because it was a long week of conditioning and basketball. I get it just through soreness of playing a lot."

Noel said the pain usually arises in his left knee, but sometimes both knees.

The Kentucky center successfully played through the tendinitis on Saturday, scoring 7 points, grabbing 9 rebounds and blocking 7 shots in a 74-46 victory over Portland.

"It was tough early on," Noel said of the Portland game. "But it started to loosen up and I was able to just play hard on it with less pain."