The Portland Trail Blazers were devastated when they lost starting center Jusuf Nurkic to a horrific leg injury at the end of the regular season. If there was any solace, it was that the recently-signed Enes Kanter had been incredibly productive off the bench and would fill in for Nurkic in the playoffs.

Yet Portland's misfortune reappeared against the Oklahoma City Thunder, when Kanter separated his left shoulder in Game 5 on a collision with Thunder center Steven Adams. Although Kanter played through the injury, his status for this Western Conference semifinal was called into question.

Kanter had a few days of extra rest with the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs pushing their first-round series to a deciding Game 7, but he remains questionable for Game 1 against the Nuggets:

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The Trail Blazers signed Kanter after he was waived by the New York Knicks in February, and promptly put up some of the best per-36-minute numbers of his career: 21.2 points and 13.9 boards per game. His ability to play at either the four or the five and replace Nurkic proved invaluable. His scoring potential in the frontcourt complemented defense-oriented players such as Maurice Harkless and Zach Collins.

Portland needs Kanter healthy as soon as possible. If Nuggets center Nikola Jokic wasn't enough of a handful to deal with already, he is coming off two of his best games of the season.

Jokic scored 43 points in Game 6 against San Antonio, then posted a triple-double of 21 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists to help the Nuggets win Game 7. Without Kanter in the lineup to force Jokic to work harder on the defensive end and potentially get him in foul trouble, Jokic could be that much more of a weapon for Denver against the Trail Blazers in Game 1.