Problems keep coming to the Portland Trail Blazers, and their chances at a playoff spot keep shrinking by the day. In less than a week, the team lost center Jusuf Nurkic and CJ McCollum to a pair of big injuries.
Nurkic suffered a broken wrist in the Blazers' loss to the Pacers last week, and so Portland will be without their starting center for an extended period of time. The Bosnian Beast reportedly underwent surgery to address the issue and will be re-evaluated in six weeks, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic underwent wrist surgery and will be re-evaluated in six weeks.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 19, 2021
Jusuf Nurkic had just recovered from a broken leg and he was off to a tremendous start in the 2020-21 NBA season. The veteran center averaged 9.8 points and 7.7 rebounds in 12 games for the Rip City squad.
While Nurkic is out, Enes Kanter will be the starting center going forward. Kanter had 12 points and 15 boards in the Blazers' first game without Nurkic, but the loss of their starter is going to be tough to overcome for the next six weeks minimum.
To make matters worse, McCollum fractured his foot and his return remains unknown.
Trail Blazers star CJ McCollum has a fractured left foot and will miss an extended period of time, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 19, 2021
Another starter for the Blazers, and another big-time loss. McCollum was off to the best start of his career, averaging 26.7 points per game with 5.0 assists. Now, the Blazers head to the drawing board to see how they can stay afloat with two of their starters out for the next couple of months.
Portland currently sits at 8-6 for the sixth-seed in the Western Conference, but overcoming the injury woes is going to be a tall task going forward.
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