The Portland Trail Blazers got some bad news Friday night as the team announced Jusuf Nurkic suffered a broken leg this week.
PORTLAND, Ore. (March 31, 2017) — A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows Portland center Jusuf Nurkić has a non-displaced right leg fibular fracture, it was announced today by Neil Olshey, Trail Blazers president of basketball operations.
Nurkić will be sidelined for two weeks, at which time he will be reevaluated.
via Portland’s Jusuf Nurkić Suffers Fibular Fracture | Portland Trail Blazers.
Nurkic of course has fueled a huge revival of Portland’s season, boosting them to the 8th seed in the Western Conference. He’s been an absolute monster after being given the starting position, playing time, and touches he so desperately demanded in Denver. Losing him is a huge blow for these next two weeks and makes their situation that much tougher.
However, there’s good news. After Denver’s loss to the Hornets amid their five-game cross-country road trip, Portland’s magic number is just five. So if Denver loses two more, Portland only needs three wins in their final seven to clinch a playoff spot. Given how likely that is, the Blazers can likely survive until the playoff start, when Nurkic is to be reevaluated, and could return for Game 1 of their first-round series.
Nurkic has had knee injuries which kept him out for longer than expected in the past, but if he can recover in the expected time table, he should be back to give Draymond Green trouble in the first round.
