PHOENIX - Portland’s 132-119 win over the Suns came with a heavy price.
Vít Krejčí went down late in the third quarter with a fracture to his lower left leg or ankle, turning a strong night for the Trail Blazers into a much more somber one. The team does not yet know how long the backup wing will be out, but the expectation is that he’ll miss a significant amount of time.
The injury happened with less than three minutes left in the third when Krejčí was matched up with Miles Bridges on a Phoenix fast break. Krejčí stepped in to try to stop the play and draw a charge, but Bridges collided awkwardly with him just after crossing the free throw line. Bridges then moved the ball to a teammate in the corner, and Krejčí hit the floor hard as the possession continued and eventually ended with a Bridges 3-pointer.
Krejčí immediately grabbed at his left leg and ankle in obvious pain. Trainers checked on him before he hobbled to the bench with help from Donovan Clingan and Rob Williams III. After a brief look, he hopped toward the locker room on one leg and was later diagnosed with a fracture.
He left Mortgage Matchup Center on crutches and with a protective boot on his leg.
“It’s tough,” Blazers center Donovan Clingan said. “He’s a guy who has taken great advantage of his minutes and it’s definitely tough to see someone who is as good of a guy (as he is) go down like that. But we’ve got his back.”
After the game, coach Micah Nori said the mood in the locker room was subdued.
“Very somber,” Blazers coach Micah Nori said, describing the Blazers’ locker room after the game. “It was very somber.
It was just how you would imagine. But (his teammates) are going to lift his spirits, he’s going to work to get himself back … and we’ll go from there.”
Nori added that it was not yet clear which bone Krejčí fractured or whether surgery would be needed.
The loss adds another blow to a Portland backcourt already dealing with injuries. Shaedon Sharpe suffered a lateral right meniscus tear in August and is expected to be out until after the All-Star break. Ja Morant, the Blazers’ offseason acquisition, strained his left hamstring last week and will miss at least a month.
Still, Nori pointed to the one thing Portland does have: numbers.
“It’s awful for Vit,” Nori said. “But … we talked about it this summer, like, ‘What are you going to do with all these smalls?’ Well, goodness gracious, thank goodness we have them all.”
Nori has used a 10-man rotation through the first two weeks of the season and said he hopes to keep leaning on that depth. He said two-way player Chris Youngblood is the likeliest candidate to step into Krejčí’s spot, though Jayson Kent and John Tonje are also options, along with bigger lineups.
However Portland fills the minutes, Krejčí leaves a hole. His numbers this season - 2.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 10.0 minutes per game - don’t jump off the page, and his 18.2% three-point shooting has been cold. But the Blazers value what he brings beyond the box score: defense, passing and the kind of steady play that has made him a useful piece of the second unit.
“He’s been very important for us,” All-Star forward Deni Avdija said. “Shooting.
Energy. Just making the right play.
Always on the court, he’s making the right play. He’s been great on defense this year and he’s been great off the bench for us.
But we’ll wait. We’ll wait for him.”
The injury is the latest setback in what has otherwise been a strong opening stretch for Portland. The Blazers are 6-1 and off to their best start since the 1999-2000 season.
“We will definitely miss him, obviously,” Nori said. “No pun intended, but that’s an awful break for him, for us, because we need him. But we’ll support him.
“He’ll be back. These guys are resilient and it’s just one more (thing). You face adversity, you just keep going.”
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