Jusuf Nurkic Set To Return On Friday Against Magic
Norman Powell won't be the only impact player the Trail Blazers need to integrate during their four-game road trip.
According to Dwight Jaynes of NBC Sports Northwest, Jusuf Nurkic is poised to make his long-awaited return from a wrist injury on Friday against the Orlando Magic.
Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic plans to return Friday night vs. the Orlando Magic, NBC Sports Northwest has learned.
The Bosnian Beast himself confirmed that intel midday Thursday.
Nurkic suffered a fractured right wrist in Portland's loss to the Indiana Pacers on January 14. Initial expectations placed his return to the floor at approximately eight weeks out from the time of his injury, suggesting he would be available to play in the middle of March.
But a calf injury suffered during practice earlier this month further delayed Nurkic's return. Shortly after news of his latest injury broke, Yahoo! Sports' Chris Haynes reported on March 15 that Nurkic would be available to play in "approximately two weeks," a timeline that aligns with his plan to be back on the floor against Orlando.
The Blazers have gone 18-13 during Nurkic's absence, an especially impressive win-loss total because C.J. McCollum missed all but six of those games with a broken foot. Portland, 25-18 overall, currently sits at sixth in the Western Conference, just one-and-a-half games ahead of the seventh-place Dallas Mavericks. Teams that finish the regular season between seventh and tenth in each conference, remember, will participate in a play-in tournament to reach the postseason.
Though there's no intel on how Portland plans to use Nurkic during his long-awaited return, it's fortunate that his first time playing NBA basketball in 10 weeks will come against Orlando. The Magic were the league's most active team at the trade deadline, moving All-Star Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier in a full-scale rebuild.
The Blazers and Magic tipoff at 5:00 p.m. (PST) on Friday, the second leg of Portland's Florida back-to-back.
[Dwight Jaynes, NBC Sports Northwest]