Enes Kanter suffered separated left shoulder, still hopeful for Western Conference semifinals
Portland Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter confirmed on Friday that he has a separated left shoulder, though isn’t ruling himself out of any postseason game just yet.
Kanter went down hard in Portland’s 118-115 win in Game 5 on Tuesday — which clinched their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder behind a massive game-winner from Damian Lillard — though he played through it, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds in 32 minutes.
"I think the Blazers are doing a very good job taking care of it. But, I mean obviously, I'm not going to lie, it hurts pretty bad," Kanter said on Friday, via ESPN. "I mean I'm having a hard time changing my shirt or eating food. So it's a process. We're just taking it day by day, see how it feels."
The 26-year-old participated in the Blazers’ practice on Friday, though was visibly in pain at times, per the report. As long as he’s able, though, Kanter plans to be on the court.
"They just said it's a separation, it's normally around a month to just heal it," Kanter said, via ESPN. "But I mean, you don't have a month to take off, so I'm just going to push through it."
Kanter has played a surprisingly big impact for the Trail Blazers this season, who picked him up in February after he was waived by the New York Knicks. He was thrust into the starting lineup after Jusuf Nurkic went down with a gruesome leg injury in March.
Kanter has looked solid this postseason, too, averaging a double-double with 13.2 points and 10.2 rebounds. Not having him going forward would be yet another blow to the Blazers inside game, which can’t take much more if they want to continue their strong postseason run.
Still, Portland has plenty of time before they have to take the court again. Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals series will take place on Monday night, regardless of whether they play the Denver Nuggets or the San Antonio Spurs — who will face off in their Game 7 on Saturday.
That extra time, Blazers coach Terry Stotts said, will come in handy.
"I know it's too early," Stotts said, via ESPN. "The good thing is we don't play until Monday, so we don't really have to make any decisions until then. So we're hopeful."
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