Injured Nurkic makes surprise appearance during Blazers' win
The Portland Trail Blazers had a special guest for their first-round series-clinching win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Injured center Jusuf Nurkic arrived late in the fourth quarter sporting a "Got bricks? Next question" shirt - an apparent jab at Thunder star Russell Westbrook, whom he shares a rocky relationship with.
Nurkic was at home watching Game 5 before making a last-minute decision to join his teammates on the sideline.
"I was in pain and tried watching the game," Nurkic said on the NBC Sports Northwest broadcast. "By the end of the third quarter, I was like, 'Yo man, f--- it ... I'm just gonna go out there and show up. I know if I show up, we're gonna win this game.' I had zero doubt."
Nurkic hadn't stepped foot inside Moda Center since his season-ending leg injury on March 25th. His surprise appearance with 3:55 remaining just happened to coincide with the Blazers' rally.
"I was told we were down eight when he showed up," head coach Terry Stotts told reporters, including ESPN's Royce Young. "So he's a plus-8. Actually more than that. We won by three, right? So plus-11. So his plus-minus was really good.
"You felt it in the building when they showed him on the big screen. No one knew he was going to show up, and honestly, I think we fed off that. I think it was a little good karma when he did show up."
Portland awaits the winner of the Denver Nuggets-San Antonio Spurs series.