Portland Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins has a left ankle Malleolar stress reaction and will be re-evaluated in one week, per Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com.
Collins didn't play in Game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. However, the Blazers still came away with the win to take a shocking 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series over the top-seeded Lakers.
MRI confirms a "left ankle Malleolar stress reaction" for Zach Collins. He's out for Game 2 and will be reevaluate in a week, which means Games 3 and 4 are likely out as well.
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) August 19, 2020
While the Blazers played very well against the Lakers in Game 1, the absence of Zach Collins is huge since he's another big body who can give Anthony Davis, JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard issues in the frontcourt with his defense and rebounding.
Collins appeared in only 11 games for the Blazers during the 2019-20 regular season. He averaged 7.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in 26.5 minutes per contest while shooting 47.1 percent from the field. Collins missed the majority of the season recovering from shoulder surgery.
The Blazers have to expect the Lakers to shoot the ball better moving forward. Los Angeles only shot 35.1 percent overall and a woeful 15.6 percent from beyond the arc in the Game 1 defeat. While the Lakers have struggled shooting the ball ever since the bubble games began, Portland has to be prepared for Los Angeles to flip the switch.
The run the Blazers have been on since the season restarted has been fun to track. Portland fans are certainly hoping the magical ride continues and the team upsets the Lakers in the first round.
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