Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic suffered the fracture in his right leg Tuesday against the Nuggets, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. He played 32 minutes in Thursday’s game before the injury was discovered on Friday. Nurkic will be out of action for at least two weeks, and Portland is hoping he can be ready for the playoffs. “It just depends how I feel,” Nurkic said. “The doctor said, ‘He’s tough,’ and if it doesn’t hurt I’m going to be back.” (Twitter link). Blazers coach Terry Stotts plans to use a “committee” approach at center while Nurkic is out, with Meyers Leonard getting the start tonight (Twitter link).
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- After losing three straight and falling two games behind Portland in the race for the final playoff spot, Nuggets coach Michael Malone wants his team to close out the season “the right way,” relays Christopher Dempsey on NBA.com. “If we do finish the right way, maybe other things happen and we give ourselves a chance,” Malone said. “I want to find guys that when everything looks bleak, who is going to go out there and play anyway. … Going forward, I will find a group of five guys, vets or young guys, whoever it may be, to go out there and play and play as hard as possible.” Denver has to overcome injury problems as it tries to save its season. Will Barton, Darrell Arthur and Jameer Nelson are all questionable for Sunday’s game at Miami and possibly beyond.
- The Jazz are hoping injured forward Derrick Favors can return before the end of the regular season, according to Jody Genessy of The Deseret News. A bone bruise in his left knee has kept Favors sidelined since March 6th, but coach Quin Snyder said Friday that he is “hopeful” about Favors coming back.
- Despite having some of the most exciting young players in the league, attendance remains a problem for the Timberwolves, notes Kent Youngblood of The Star Tribune. Even though the crowds have been trending upward, Minnesota is last in the NBA with an average of 14,584 fans per night. The Wolves are getting about 4% larger crowds than they did last season, but it will take success on the court for that number to increase significantly.
The Wolves need to extend Rubio’s contract, and go with Rubio,Wiggins, and Towns leading the way, draft Jonathan Issac to play the 4 alongside Towns and the Wolves will take off. Or if the Wolves keep losing leading up to next season let Rubio go somewhere else and unleash Dunn.
Rubio is signed through 2019
The wolves r pretty set. They need to figure out the rotation a bit. And get a solid defending wing. And bring Gourgi off the bench behind towns. Issac would help open up the lane. That’s the biggest issue I c. Gourgi clogs things up a big
The Wolves have always been the fourth team in the MSP market and they just have never had the sustained success it takes to get a fan base fired up. There were some good years, especially when KG was in his prime, but it’s been pretty dismal since. Their future looks pretty promising now, though, and if it comes to fruition the seats will get filled up.
It’s just hard for people to buy into the Wolves when there hasn’t been much to root for in so long. The games are marketed like “If you get bored, come on down, there’s always tickets” or “Come see the Wolves lose on the same court the Lynx win on” or “Hey, it’s cheaper than a Wild game!”
Moving back to MN, but I’m over 2 hrs from Target Center. Tried to use my League Pass and found out I’m back in the blackout radius. I know this means I should drive to each and every game (getting home well after midnight), but the truth is I may just give up on the team altogether.
If you do not want cable TV, the NBA doesn’t want you for a fan. If Wolves games were again “broadcast” throughout the state on digital TV (best possible picture quality), Target Center would be sold out every night!
With the technology we have now, blackout rules are so archaic. The idea that I have to pay more than my (expletive)ing car payment to a cable or satellite company to watch my local teams is ridiculous.