Jusuf Nurkic Out for Season After Undergoing Surgery for Gruesome Leg Injury

Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic will miss the remainder of the season after he suffered a gruesome leg injury Monday. 

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Nurkic incurred a compound fracture in his left leg. The Blazers announced the Bosnian underwent the season-ending surgery Tuesday. Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported there was no nerve or muscle damage. 

Nurkic suffered the injury after he landed awkwardly while going up for a rebound in the second overtime of Portland's 148-144 win over the Brooklyn Nets. The 24-year-old had a team-high 32 points to go with 16 rebounds, five assists and four blocks before he was carted off the floor.

Blazers fans gave Nurkic a thunderous ovation at the Moda Center in Portland as he was transported from the floor to the locker room:

Nurkic had been enjoying a career year with All-Star-caliber numbers. Over 72 games, he averaged 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 blocks per game, while shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 77.3 percent from the free-throw line.

His blossoming into a star alongside guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum is a big reason why Portland is fourth in the Western Conference at 46-27, just a half-game out of third and four games out of first.

After the game, Lillard compared Nurkic's injury to the one suffered by Paul George during a Team USA exhibition game in 2014 and talked about how he felt seeing his teammate go down, per ESPN.com's Royce Young:

"It made me sick to my stomach. I think he tried to tip it in, he crashed the glass and I saw him hit the ground and roll over real quick, and I thought maybe he got hit in the face or something again. As I was walking over there, I saw everybody else turn around real quick and walk away, and then I looked and saw his leg—and you just hate to see that happen to him."

Blazers head coach Terry Stotts called the injury "devastating" and noted "we weren't celebrating," despite going on to win the game and clinch a playoff spot.

With Nurkic out, the pre-deadline acquisition of Enes Kanter looms large for the Blazers, as he will likely be asked to fill the bulk of the minutes vacated by Nurkic.

Kanter doesn't have quite as strong of an all-around game as Nurkic, but with averages of 13.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game this season split between the Blazers and New York Knicks, he is a better replacement than most teams boast.

With nine games remaining in the regular season, the Blazers will look to close the campaign strongly without Nurkic before going on to the playoffs, when a first-round matchup against the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder could be looming.