This looked bad. It was worse — for Jusuf Nurkic, and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Midway through the second overtime against Brooklyn Monday night, Nurkic went down with what can only be described as a gruesome injury. The Trail Blazers later announced it was compound fractures to his left tibia and fibula, which will require surgery and not only end this season but also will bleed into next season as well (there is no timeline for something like this).
Re: Nurkic: There’s only one comparable injury in the NBA since 2005-06 and that’s Paul George. He returned to action 247 days (8 months) after his injury.
— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) March 26, 2019
Nurkic had gone up for an offensive rebound and came down awkwardly, his leg bending in ways that no leg should bend. He laid on the floor in pain, was carted off in a stretcher — with the crowd sending positive vibes — and taken directly to the hospital.
Coach Stotts says that Nurkic is “at a local hospital” right now... Adding, “it’s devastating”
— Jamie Hudson (@JamieHudson_) March 26, 2019
#Blazers locker room is dead silent
— Peter Socotch (@PeterSocotch) March 26, 2019
Here is a video of the incident, but be warned this is brutal and may be a video you want to avoid if these kinds of injuries make you feel ill. Or, even if they don’t.
Around the league, sympathy poured out for Nurkic.
Nurkic🙏🏿
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) March 26, 2019
Prayers up for @bosnianbeast27 🙏🏽
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) March 26, 2019
🙏🙏 nurkic!!
— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) March 26, 2019
get well soon big fella @bosnianbeast27
— Blake Griffin (@blakegriffin23) March 26, 2019
This is a Portland team also without C.J. McCollum, who has a left knee injury and is out officially for the upcoming four-game road trip and may miss the rest of the regular season.
Nurkic got paid last summer, a four-year, $48 million deal — but unlike others who take their foot off the gas once they get their money, Nurkic came back better and more motivated. He has averaged a career-high 15.4 points per game this season on 50.7 percent shooting, his PER of 23.1 and other advanced stats are at career bests, and on the defensive end he moved better and was more of a presence. On offense, he sets the picks for Damian Lillard (second most used pick-and-roll tandem in the NBA) and when teams inevitably trap and blitz Lillard he has gotten the ball to the rolling Nurkic, whose skills as a passer and playmaker have grown tremendously in the last year. He has been Portland’s second best player for stretches of the season.
Portland had looked like a more dangerous playoff threat this season and Nurkic was a big reason for the Blazers’ optimism heading into the postseason. Now, that edge is gone.