The Portland Trail Blazers were playing their best basketball at the time of the big blow they took earlier this week to their big man, Jusuf Nurkic. The All-Star center, in the middle of the best season of his career, was carted off the court on Monday night at the Moda Center, and is done for the season with two compound fractures in his left leg. The injury occurred in the second overtime of a win against the Brooklyn Nets, as the big man was jumping for a rebound, but landed awkwardly on his leg. He was surrounded by emotional teammates while getting tended to by the training staff.
The opposing players for the Nets immediately saw how serious the injury was and sprinted away to the bench to get some help. Nurkic's teammates Damian Lillard, Rodney Hood, and Al-Farouq Aminu helped load him on the stretcher in front of a quieted crowd. Lillard admitted after the game that this incident reminded him of what happened to Paul George during a Team USA exhibition game in 2014.
The 24-year-old Nurkic exited what was a 148-144 win over the Nets, which clinched the Blazers a playoff spot for the sixth consecutive season. The center is averaging 15.4 points and 10.3 rebounds through 71 games this season, and had 32 points and 16 rebounds before going down on Monday. This will now turn the attention to Enes Kanter, who was a mid-season addition after a tough end to his time with the New York Knicks. The Blazers are currently the three seed, just a half-game ahead of the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference.
The opposing players for the Nets immediately saw how serious the injury was and sprinted away to the bench to get some help. Nurkic's teammates Damian Lillard, Rodney Hood, and Al-Farouq Aminu helped load him on the stretcher in front of a quieted crowd. Lillard admitted after the game that this incident reminded him of what happened to Paul George during a Team USA exhibition game in 2014.
The 24-year-old Nurkic exited what was a 148-144 win over the Nets, which clinched the Blazers a playoff spot for the sixth consecutive season. The center is averaging 15.4 points and 10.3 rebounds through 71 games this season, and had 32 points and 16 rebounds before going down on Monday. This will now turn the attention to Enes Kanter, who was a mid-season addition after a tough end to his time with the New York Knicks. The Blazers are currently the three seed, just a half-game ahead of the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference.
