Blazers C Nurkic sustains serious leg injury

Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic sustained a serious leg injury Monday night, and he was carried off on a stretcher with 2:22 remaining in the second overtime of Portland's home game against the Brooklyn Nets. As Nurkic landed from a leap for a rebound, his left foot came down on the shoe of Nets forward Jared Dudley, and his leg bent in an unnatural direction, with the foot and bottom of the shin pointing outward.

Players on the court viscerally reacted in anguish, and trainers quickly rushed to Nurkic, tending to him for several minutes before taking him off the court. Nurkic was transported to a local hospital, Blazers coach Terry Stotts said postgame, adding that the injury was "devastating."

Portland was leading 134-132 at the time, and Nurkic had a team-high 32 points, a game-high 16 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and two steals. The Trail Blazers went on to win 148-144 in double overtime and clinch a playoff spot, their sixth straight postseason berth. Still, because of Nurkic's injury, the locker room was quiet postgame, according to Stotts.

Nurkic, 24, is averaging 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 72 games this season. --Field Level Media