Last Monday, March 25, the Portland Trail Blazers starting center Jusuf Nurkic suffered a season-ending, gruesome injury. After going up for an offensive rebound against the Nets, Nurkic landed in an awkward position, causing a compounding left Tibia fracture.
Teammates quickly realized how serious his injury was, sprinting towards athletic trainers and anyone that could help. The stadium fell silent as people began to crowd under the basket where Nurkic lied in pain. He was quickly assisted off the court and taken to the hospital.
His teammates still had a job to do; finish the game against the Nets. The Trail Blazers prevailed, with a 148-144 win in double overtime.
“It made me sick to my stomach,” Lillard commented on the injury, via ESPN, “I think he tried to tip it in, he crashed the glass and I saw him hit the ground and roll over real quick, and I thought maybe he got hit in the face or something again. As I was walking over there, I saw everybody else turn around real quick and walk away, and then I looked and saw his leg”.
Nurkic was having the best season of his young career. The 24-year-old had posted career-highs with 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1 steal per game. The absence of the young growing star will definitely be felt offensively, as he was the third leading scorer for the team.