Jusuf Nurkic eerily praised the long-term health of this Portland Trail Blazers team roughly one hour before his team took on the Brooklyn Nets, a double-overtime war that would soon see him face a completely different fate than what he had just lauded prior to the game.
“What I’m most happy about is we stayed healthy,” Nurkic said before the game, according to Jason Quick of The Athletic. “Going into the season, I thought that was going to be a big part of what we could do. And, I also like the fight we brought each night.”
Indeed, Nurkic has played in 72 of his team's 73 games up to that point — a clear reflection of that durability he prided himself over. Yet in a cruel twist of fate, he would suffer a horrific lower-leg injury, which was later diagnosed as compound fractures of his left tibia and fibula, ending his season.
It was the type of injury that caused Nets players to sprint away in horror, having the same effect on Nurkic's teammates.
“It made me sick to my stomach,” said Blazers star Damian Lillard.
“Devastating,” said Blazers coach Terry Stotts.
It was Nurkic's 32 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, four blocks, and two steals that was spearheading the Blazers to clinch a playoff berth, improving to 46-27 on the season after a wild 148-144 double-overtime win over the Nets, yet the Blazers weren't celebrating.
The Blazers, once blessed with health, will be forced to navigate the rest of the season without Nurkic and with CJ McCollum still on the mend from a left knee strain. McCollum will miss the next four games of the upcoming road trip, making a late-season appearance possible if he progresses rapidly.
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