The Portland Trail Blazers are in the midst of a tightening race for a spot in the play-in tournament in the Western Conference and it appears as if reinforcements are on the way. The Blazers have been without Jusuf Nurkic since before the All-Star break when he suffered a calf injury during a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Nurkic did not have a clear timetable for his return but it appears as if it is imminent. He was officially listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Boston Celtics as per Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.

Jusuf Nurkic is the Blazers only real center in the rotation and an integral part of the team. Prior to his injury, Nurkic was averaging 13.8 points per game, 9.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists with shooting splits of 52.4 percent shooting from the field, 39 percent shooting from the three-point line and 68.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

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Nurkic is in his seventh season with the Blazers after being traded from the Denver Nuggets during the 2016-17 season. Nurkic was initially traded by the Nuggets to open up playing time for Nikola Jokic.

The Blazers are currently 31-34 and essentially tied record-wise in the Western Conference standings with the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans. By virtue of tie-breakers, the Blazers sit in ninth place in the West which would be good enough for a berth in the play-in. They are only two games back from the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers for either the seventh or eighth seed.