Blazers center Enes Kanter aggravated his injured left shoulder in the team’s Game 3 win over Denver on Friday night (well, some could argue Saturday morning), telling reporters after the contest that he believes he separated the shoulder “more.”
Kanter logged 56 minutes in the first quadruple overtime playoff game since 1953, finishing with 18 points, 15 rebounds and three steals. He was listed as questionable entering the series due to the injury, also suffering a hand contusion in the first half of Game 2.
“First overtime, I think I separated my shoulder more,” Kanter said, according to ESPN’s Kevin Pelton. “I had to tuck my arm into my jersey because I couldn’t carry my arm. I’m glad we got a win, man. Whatever it takes. You’ve got to sacrifice everything. I’m proud of my teammates.”
Kanter will receive treatment between now and Sunday’s Game 4 and plans to play through the injury, though his official status for the contest has yet to be announced by the team. He first suffered the shoulder injury in Portland’s series-clinching Game 5 win against the Thunder last round.
“Sometimes you’ve got to make some sacrifices to get a win,” Kanter said. “I’ll get some painkillers for the next game. I hope I can play. But I’ll be fine.”
Kanter was a major free agent acquisition for the Blazers this season, filling in for the injured Jusuf Nurkic as starting center throughout the playoffs. He’s averaged 15.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and one steal in eight postseason games and will become a free agent on July 1.
Portland must win Game 4 in order to protect home court advantage in the series, with the prospect of heading back to Denver tied 2-2 looming should they lose on Sunday.
I hate long overtimes. I think it was about 2:20 am ET.
How about just keep playing until the tie is broken, the “golden goal”? That would keep the excitement up to the end, without the wasted dull time after putting 5 minutes on the game timer and restarting what did not produce a result the first time.
Kanter, maintained his energy, often all hunched up. I thought he was just making alpha-ape flexing poses. Exhausted Jokic made rare errors; He was not given the regular rest even in regular time.
Eventually Portland totally relied on hero ball, often going after Jamal Murray’s defense. Generally this was McCollum until they finally put Rodney Hood back in and Hood scored the next 7 on 3 possessions. He’s a different player now. I am crediting Lillard’s leadership until HR informs me otherwise.
To rephrase: Jokic made errors he typically does not, due to not getting his normal breaks, even before OT. And HR explained why Kanter was at unusual postures & expressions.
Now explain why Hood is finally reaching his potential!
Probably cause dirty Jokic purposely rammed into his shoulder and constantly gets away with 4-5 fouls per game. And the refs just let him hold players and flop all day long. Jokic is out of shape so he has to play dirty, he shouldn’t be rewarded for that. The Blazers are a better team so they continue to win with the refs against them, but idk how much longer we can keep winning games if the refs allow the other team to try to hurt our players.
Jokic played so many minutes, he’s going to be exhausted on Sunday. Blazers need to take advantage.
“whatever it takes”…Kanter’s starting to sound like an “Avenger”.