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PORTLAND, OR – Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic was fractured in the tibia and fibula of the left leg during a double overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night and will be indefinite.
Nurkic jumped for a rebound and fell awkwardly into a tangle of body under the basket. After touching the ground, the net players around him saw the severity of the injury and jumped out.
The arena quickly fell silent as Blazers medical staff rushed to Nurkic. A stretcher was immediately called and, with the help of some Blazers – Damian Lillard, Rodney Hood and Al-Farouq Aminu -, the 7-foot Bosnian was loaded on.
"It made my stomach ache," said Lillard. "I think that he tried to break it, he broke the glass and I saw him hit the ground and roll very fast, and I thought he was maybe hit in the face or something new.Walking there, I saw all the others turn around very quickly and go away, and then I watched and saw his leg – and you hate that that it happens to him. "
NBA players used social media to send support to Jusuf Nurkic.
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Jusuf Nurkic had 32 points and 16 rebounds before suffering a terrible left-foot injury in the second overtime, and the Portland Trail Blazers survived the Brooklyn Blunders 148-144 on Monday night.
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Lillard said it reminded him of Paul George's injury at the Team USA show in Las Vegas in 2014, a game in which Lillard was also involved.
"It's exactly what it looked like for me," said Lillard.
He also recalled memories of Gordon Hayward's terrible ankle injury during the first night of the 2017-18 season.
Blazer coach Terry Stotts said Nurkic had been taken to a local hospital and had little to add.
"It's devastating," said Stotts.
Stotts called the Blazers' locker room "calm" and striker Zach Collins said it was "almost as if we had lost it". Enes Kanter said the team had observed a minute of silence for Nurkic after the match.
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Enes Kanter details the emotions felt in the locker room in Portland after the fall of Jusuf Nurkic, wounded in his left leg.
"Nobody can really say anything," Kanter said.
This is a fatal blow to the Blazers, who have recently jumped despite a knee injury inflicted on CJ McCollum, who has marginalized him in the past two weeks. They then beat the Nets in doubles in overtime 148-144, earning them a playoff spot for the Blazers, their sixth straight appearance.
"We were not celebrating," said Stotts.
Nurkic's injury occurred while there were 2 minutes and 22 seconds of overtime and the Blazers led by two points. They then closed the nets, with a big 3-pointer of Hood and some free throws of Seth Curry clutch sealing the win.
"Honestly, I think it's natural for us, after something like that, you say," Okay, we'll finish the job and do it, "said Lillard after being hurt." Because first and foremost, he would not want us to say: "Let's be sorry for ourselves and let's get rid of Nurk and do not care so much about it."
"So, let's finish the job, try to play the game. But I think that after the match, it's at that point that the game starts .I do not know what to say about the game." ;other."
Behind Nurkic, the Blazers have Kanter, which was signed after being raised by the New York Knicks, and Collins.
Nurkic, 24, has an average of 15.4 points and 10.3 rebounds in 71 games this season. He finished Monday with 32 points and 16 rebounds before leaving.
"You hate seeing him go through something like that, having his best season in the NBA," said Lillard. "We are in a crucial phase of the season, we are trying to secure our place for the playoffs, to find our position and then to have a post-season, so see something like that happens to him … You do not Never want to see this for your friend or a teammate, and especially as a player, you do not want anyone going through that.
"And it's also going to be tough for our team, CJ is already out, now that he has a difficult injury, so in every way, it was a blow. the game."
Earlier this season, the Nets experienced a similar situation with the guard Caris LeVert leaving the court on a chair with towels on his leg, which was supposed to be a serious injury to the leg. (LeVert returned this season after being diagnosed with foot dislocation.)
The entire Nets team went to Nurkic to wish him good luck, as he was coming off the ground on the stretcher.
"That's what our guys are talking about in the locker room right now," said Nets coach Kenny Atkinson about Nurkic's injury. "They do not talk about the game or the defeat, they talk about the fact that one player was playing very well and that he was really a fantastic player, and you pray that it will not be a big deal." term and that it can bounce back.It takes you out of the wind, it's just not the same.We went through this, so it's difficult – difficult for the crowd, hard for everything the world. "
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