Trail Blazers Beat Suns But Lose Vít Krejčí to Serious Leg Injury

📍PHOENIX — On the night of his best and most impactful game as a Trail Blazer, Vít Krejčí may have also seen his season come to an end. Or at least, be put on pause for a long while.

With two minutes left in the third quarter of the Blazers' 132-119 win over the Phoenix Suns, Krejčí tried to take a charge on Miles Bridges and went down at the baseline holding his left ankle. He had to be helped off the floor, and was unable to put weight on his left leg. After being carried to the bench, he hopped on his right leg back to the locker room.

In the moment, it looked like nothing more than a bad sprain. But head coach Micah Nori broke the news after the game that it was much worse than that.

"He fractured his ankle or leg, is what it sounds like," Nori said.

Nori didn't know exactly which bone Krejčí broke, or whether he'll need surgery. He'll undergo further imaging in the coming days. But judging by the crutches and walking boot he was sporting in the locker room postgame, it will be a while before Krejčí is back on the court.

It was cruel timing for this to happen in a game where Krejčí played solid minutes off the bench to help the Blazers overcome a sloppy start and handle business against the Suns to improve to 6-1 on the season.

Krejčí's tenure in Portland has been largely underwhelming since he came over from Atlanta before last season's trade deadline. Over three-plus seasons with the Hawks, he shot 41.9 percent from three-point range, making him a perfect fit on paper for a Blazers team that was the third-worst three-point shooting team in the NBA. But he was in and out of the lineup with minor injuries at the end of last season and never found his shot when he got to Portland, shooting just 30.3 percent from deep over 19 games and barely playing in the playoffs.

But Nori, who likes to play a 10-man rotation, has been using Krejčí in the 10th regular spot, and his minutes have expanded as they've tried to fill the minutes left by Ja Morant's hamstring injury that will keep him out for several more weeks.

Krejčí has continued to struggle from beyond the arc this year, shooting just 3-of-15 on the season from outside, but before Wednesday night's win over the Suns, Nori praised him for the impact he was making in other parts of the game.

"He's more of a connector anyway," Nori said. "He's one of those guys that when he's on the floor, always makes the right play. The ball is always moving, and he's really competing at the defensive end. So even aside from him making shots, and that's what we're just trying to talk to him about, is at the end of the day, don't let your shot making determine how you're going to play the rest of time. Because he can't control making shots, but he can control when he gets it moving the ball and playing defense."

Krejčí shot just 1-for-4 from three in the Suns game before getting hurt, but his one three-point make came early in the second quarter to extend Portland's lead to four after they'd taken control of the game back from Phoenix. He also had thee rebounds and two assists and played solid defense in his 12 minutes on the court.

Now, he's going to be sidelined for a while, and the Blazers will feel his absence despite his limited minutes.

"Shooting, energy, just making the right play," Deni Avdija said. "He's making the right play. He's been great on defense this year, and he's been great off the bench for us. But we'll wait. We'll wait for him for sure."

Krejčí joins Morant and Shaedon Sharpe on the shelf and the Blazers now have two bench rotation spots to fill alongside the three staples, Jrue Holiday, Robert Williams III and Sidy Cissoko. Expect two-way guard Chris Youngblood, who played a key role in Monday's comeback win in Denver after Krejčí got in foul trouble, to get an extended look. Nori hinted that one of the other two-way players, Jayson Kent or John Tonje, could also play a bigger role. Neither of them are on the current four-game road trip, staying back in Portland to practice with the Rip City Remix ahead of next week's opening of the G League season. Depending on the matchup, Nori could also lean on the little-used Yang Hansen, Branden Carlson or Micah Potter.

The Blazers do have one open roster spot, which they can either use to sign a player, take one back in a trade or convert one of their two-ways to a standard NBA contract. In the coming weeks and months, general manager Joe Cronin will figure out how to fill that spot. In the meantime, the Blazers' depth has been a strength early on.

"I do feel comfortable with it," Nori said. "I mean, it's awful for Vít, but the one thing that we do have, like we talked about this summer, what we're gonna do with all these [guards]. Well, I mean, goodness gracious! Thank goodness we have them all. It'll be interesting to see how we play it out. But I really do like playing 10 guys, and I feel really good about the depth that we have that allows us to do that."

In the next two weeks, the Blazers have three sets of back-to-back games, which means Williams is likely going to sit out. Nori has also aimed to keep minutes lower for Holiday and Damian Lillard due to their age. In the coming weeks until Morant comes back, their depth will be more important than ever.

"We have a lot of talent in this room, and some people need to take bigger roles," Avdija said Wednesday night. "They're trying to fill in their shoes and play together and play extended minutes, take care of our bodies and be ready to play. But I think everybody's doing it right, so just keep doing it."

Along with Morant's injury, the loss of Krejčí is a rare setback in what has otherwise been a storybook start to the season, which currently has the Blazers in first place in the Western Conference standings.

“No pun intended, obviously, but that’s an awful break for him," Nori said. "And for us, because we need him."