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Evan Turner Out for Game 3 of Blazers vs. Pelicans Due to Toe Injury
April 19, 2018
Portland Trail Blazers forward Evan Turner has been ruled out for Game 3 against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night, according to Casey Holdahl of TrailBlazers.com.
Holdahl projected that Maurice Harkless would start in his place.
According to Andrew Greif of The Oregonian, Turner suffered the injury in the team's Game 2 loss. He was initially listed as questionable before being downgraded to out Thursday.
"I'm not a doctor; I just know the (expletive) hurts," Turner told reporters Tuesday night, per Christian Boutwell of the New Orleans Advocate.
Turner, 29, has averaged 6.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals in 25.5 minutes per game in the series against the Pelicans, starting both games. He averaged 8.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game during the regular season, starting 40 games for the team and appearing in 79 contests overall.
Turner has struggled mightily in the series, shooting just 28.6 percent, and the Pelicans have tried to capitalize on that fact when Turner is in the game, per Matt Moore of the Action Network:
Given those struggles, it's fair to question how much of a role Turner would have played even if healthy. In his stead, the Blazers are likely to give his minutes to Harkless and Pat Connaughton.
