Portland Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter dealing with separated shoulder
Saturday 27 April 2019 04:57, UK
Portland Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter said Friday that he has a separated left shoulder and has been dealing with intense pain.
The Trail Blazers will play either the Denver Nuggets or San Antonio Spurs on Monday to start the Western Conference semi-finals, and Kanter's status isn't yet known.
"I know it's too early," Portland coach Terry Stotts said about the decision on Kanter's availability. "The good thing is we don't play until Monday, so we don't really have to make any decisions until then. So we're hopeful."
Kanter injured the shoulder in the first half of Tuesday's Game 5 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds as the Trail Blazers wrapped up the series with Damian Lillard's memorable 37-foot game-winning shot as time expired.
Kanter did some shooting as Portland returned to the court for practice on Friday. He often was seen rubbing the shoulder.
"I think the Blazers are doing a very good job taking care of it," Kanter told reporters. "But, I mean obviously, I'm not going to lie, it hurts pretty bad.
"I mean I'm having a hard time changing my shirt or eating food. So it's a process. We're just taking it day by day, see how it feels."
Kanter was released by the New York Knicks in February, and Portland signed him to provide frontcourt depth. But center Jusuf Nurkic badly broke his leg in late March and Kanter's role increased.
Kanter averaged 13.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in 23 games (eight starts) for Portland. In the Oklahoma City series, he averaged 13.2 points and 10.2 rebounds.
With the start of the second round just days away, the biggest question facing Kanter involves pain tolerance.
"They just said it's a separation, it's normally around a month to just heal it," Kanter said. "But I mean, you don't have a month to take off, so I'm just going to push through it."
