Jusuf Nurkic Out for Game 1 vs. Warriors with Leg Injury

Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic will miss Sunday's Game 1 matchup against the Golden State Warriors as he continues recovering from a lower leg fracture.

Casey Holdahl of the Blazers official website received word from the team.

Nurkic, 22, will be missing his eighth consecutive game after suffering the injury in a March 30 win over the Houston Rockets. Noah Vonleh and Meyers Leonard will split a majority of the big-man minutes as the Blazers attempt to score an early upset against the defending Western Conference champions.

Acquired in a deadline trade with the Denver Nuggets, Nurkic was a revelation in Portland. He averaged 15.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists over his 20 regular-season games in a Blazers uniform, fortifying the middle on both ends of the floor. His emergence was critical to Portland locking up the No. 8 seed in the West as they went 14-6 with him in the lineup.

"Completely different team with him in there. So it changes everything. Obviously if he plays I'm sure I'll be on him some. I foresee the game probably being a smaller game if he doesn't play, whereas if he plays it turns into a bigger game," Golden State's Draymond Green said Friday, per Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press. "It changes everything whether he's in or out."

Nurkic's absence should allow Golden State to play small almost exclusively if it wants, which has typically been terrible news for opposing teams. The team has not updated Nurkic's status for Game 2. 

Blazers coach Terry Stotts said it hasn't been determined whether Nurkic will play in the series, per Jason Quick of the Oregonian.

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