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Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic is back.
On Thursday against the Indiana Pacers in the Blazers’ first scrimmage game, Nurkic scored his first basket following a 486-day absence due to the gruesome leg injury he suffered last season against the Brooklyn Nets.
Jusuf Nurkic scores his first bucket of the year for the Blazers in his first action since suffering the gruesome leg injury last year 🙌🏽pic.twitter.com/1zUDBSD1R1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) July 23, 2020
This is a great sight to see. Although he’s going to be rusty, Nurkic is just happy to be playing basketball again and helping his teammates win games.
Before he got hurt in 2018-19, Nurkic was averaging 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 blocks for the Blazers. He was also shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 77.3 percent from the free-throw line last season. Nurkic had 36 double-doubles and one triple-double as well.
For the first time all season, the Blazers are at full strength with Nurkic and Zach Collins back in the fold. As a result, Portland fans are excited to see if the team can snag the eighth seed out West once the seeding games start on July 30.
The Blazers, who are in ninth place in the West, will be battling it out with the Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
As is the case every season, the Blazers will ultimately go as far as Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum can lead the team offensively.