PHOENIX - Portland’s win over the Suns came with a cost Wednesday night, and it was a painful one.
Vít Krejčí went down late in the third quarter of the Trail Blazers’ 132-119 victory with a fracture to his lower left leg or ankle, turning a strong night for the team into a somber one in an instant. The backup wing was hurt with less than three minutes left while defending Miles Bridges on a Phoenix fast break, and the injury appeared serious enough that he is likely to miss a significant stretch.
Krejčí stepped in front of Bridges to try to stop the drive and draw a charge, but Bridges collided awkwardly with him just as he crossed the free throw line. Bridges then moved the ball to a teammate in the corner, and the play ended with a Bridges 3-pointer while Krejčí was on the floor in obvious pain.
He immediately grabbed at his left leg/ankle, then was helped to the bench by Donovan Clingan and Rob Williams III. After a brief evaluation, Krejčí 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.”
Blazers coach Micah Nori said the mood after the game was flat.
“Very somber,” 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 said it was not immediately clear what bone Krejčí fractured or whether surgery would be needed.
The injury adds another hit to Portland’s rotation. Krejčí is now the third player in the Blazers’ rotation to suffer a significant injury this season, joining Shaedon Sharpe, who tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee in August and is expected to be out until after the All-Star break, and Ja Morant, the offseason addition who strained his left hamstring last week and will miss at least a month.
Still, the Blazers have enough bodies to keep moving. Nori has already used a 10-man rotation over the first two weeks of the season, and he said that approach could continue. He said two-way player Chris Youngblood is the likeliest candidate to step into Krejčí’s role, though Jayson Kent and John Tonje are also options, along with bigger lineups.
That depth matters because Krejčí has given Portland more than the raw numbers suggest. He is averaging 2.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 10.0 minutes per game, and his 18.2% three-point shooting has been cold for most of the year. Even so, the Blazers value his defense, passing and long-range track record, especially off the bench.
“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.”
Portland’s 6-1 start is its best since the 1999-2000 season, but the injury to Krejčí was the night’s biggest takeaway.
“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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