Utah Jazz: Jusuf Nurkic injury could shake things up in the West

The tragic injury to Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic will have a dramatic impact on the Utah Jazz and the rest of the Western Conference playoff teams.

On Monday night, the unthinkable happened. Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, who had been having a career season, went down with a gruesome leg injury that was ultimately determined to be a compound fracture in his left leg. This is the kind of thing you’d never wish on anybody, and it was an absolute tragedy to see.

I think I speak for all Utah Jazz and NBA fans alike when I say I wish Nurkic a speedy recovery and hope that this can lead to an enormous comeback for the promising big man. Fortunately, it was announced that he suffered no nerve or muscle damage, so ideally he can make a Paul George-esque return to full strength once he does return down the road.

While the fate that befell Nurkic is an unfortunate one, and one that I’m enraged by anybody who might consider celebrating it buoying their own team, there’s no denying that this injury shakes things up in the Western Conference.

After the Blazers win on Monday and the Houston Rockets loss on Tuesday, Portland moved to third in the West. With a stud like Damian Lillard leading the charge and just nine games remaining, it’s entirely plausible that the Blazers will maintain home court advantage and perhaps even that slot. However, once they get into the postseason, it’s possible that the Blazers simply will no longer have the mettle to keep up with whoever they face.

Nurkic has been an integral part of their success and is widely accepted as Portland’s second best player. Factor in as well that CJ McCollum remains sidelined with a knee injury and a status that is very much up in the air, and suddenly a surging Blazers team is looking less daunting than previously imagined.

Considering that the Blazers have a reasonably middling schedule left in terms of strength of opponent, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them stay in the top four with the Rockets narrowly passing them to get into third place. Meanwhile, the currently fifth-seeded LA Clippers have a much more difficult schedule to close out the year than the Jazz do, meaning Utah climbing into fifth is entirely possible.

That would result in a Jazz-Blazers matchup in the first round (assuming the Oklahoma City Thunder can be kept at bay) at the four-five matchup. While the Nurkic injury is an inarguable tragedy and a damaging disappointment, the sad but true fact of the matter is that it worsens the Blazers to the point that this likely presents one of the more favorable matchups for the Jazz if it pans out this way.

Damian Lillard would still be a menace, and the depth and strong coaching of the Blazers remains a problem. However, with Nurkic and potentially McCollum out of action, landing Portland in the first round will likely be a coveted spot among West teams at this juncture.

If we’re aiming to predict the playoff positioning, it’s also entirely possible that the Jazz end up sixth and the Blazers remain in third, which would also pit the two teams against each other. This could potentially be a best case scenario, as not only would it give the Jazz a wounded Portland squad in the first round, but it would also allow them to avoid a potential matchup with the presumed top-seeded Golden State Warriors (assuming they stave off the Denver Nuggets) until the Western Conference Finals.

This has been an up and down season for the Jazz, make no mistake about it. And at times it’s looked as if they may not have anywhere near the playoff success they’ve enjoyed the past two years. However, while I’d rather see every team be at full strength, if Utah lands the Nurkic-less Blazers in the first round, it’s quite likely that they’ll be looking at a third straight year of advancing to the second round, if not further.

The Jazz won’t be the only team aware of this, and other teams may seek to do battle in the first round against Portland if they can swing it as well, meaning that this fateful injury could very well alter the landscape in the Western Conference standings entirely. That aside, I wish nothing but the best for Nurkic and my heart goes out to him and his teammates at this time.

Hopefully he’ll be back and pushing the Blazers to new illustrious heights in no time.