Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic gets dealt another injury blow. The Blazers center has suffered a broken right wrist after exiting their game against the Indiana Pacers.
The news comes via Casey Holdahl:
BREAKING: Jusuf Nurkic has suffered a broken right wrist, the Portland Trail Blazers have announced.
(via @CHold) pic.twitter.com/e99f9gPgNk
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 15, 2021
The injury appears to have arisen from this defensive sequence, which left Nurk in considerable pain:
Nurkic took a swipe at the ball on defense and appeared to injure his hand. More info to come… pic.twitter.com/5Y4s5UDiOG
— NBC Sports Northwest (@NBCSNorthwest) January 15, 2021
Nurkic attempted a block on a Myles Turner drive, with the two bigs colliding mid-air. Nukic took a hard fall after the play and he used his right hand to instinctively break his fall. The 7-foot center immediately headed to the locker room and was unable to return.
The injury looked bad, and it isn’t surprising that initial reports are saying that Nurkic has indeed sustained a broken wrist.
This is an undeniably huge blow for both the Blazers and Nurkic himself. Portland has had a 7-4 start to the new season, and it seems that they were clearly getting their rhythm going after logging four consecutive wins entering Thursday’s matchup against Indiana.
As for Nurkic, it had been a slow start for the Bosnian national, but he was coming off the best game of the season against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, putting up an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double with two steals and three blocks.
Nurkic spent the majority of the previous season rehabbing a broken leg, and it wasn’t until the restart that he was able to suit up for the Blazers. Needless to say, this is a terrible development for him, as he is now set for another lengthy spell on the sidelines.
A broken wrist usually requires a recovery period of four to six weeks. That is if no surgery is required. However, this could end up as a season-ending injury for Nurkic if he is forced to go under the knife.
