Facing insurmountable odds in the first-round against the Warriors, the Portland's daunting task of actually upsetting the Warriors becomes that much more difficult in Game 1 as Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic will not be available to play.
Jusuf Nurkic (right leg) will not play in Game One
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) April 16, 2017
Nurkic suffered a non-displaced fibular fracture in his right leg near the end of the season and has not played in a game since March 31. He has been making progress as of late though, and there may be a chance he plays later on in the series. But at least for Game 1, Nurkic won't play.
Portland is facing an uphill battle against Golden State and now without Jusuf Nurkic, their chances of winning Game 1 are almost nonexistent. If he played, Nurkic likely wouldn't have made a sizable difference against the supremely talented Warriors. But Nurkic would've helped the Blazers on defense with his rim protection, and his passing and scoring ability in the low post would only help Portland offensively.
Portland will likely turn to Noah Vonleh and Meyers Leonard to make up for the absence for Nurkic and hope that Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are both unstoppable. Otherwise, Game 1 could be over rather quickly for the Blazers.
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