Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic will return from a leg injury that has sidelined him for nearly a year on March 15 against the Houston Rockets, he told Yahoo Sports on Friday.
Nurkic was in the midst of a career season when he suffered compound fractures to the tibia and fibula of his lower left leg in a game against the Brooklyn Nets in late March of last season.
The Blazers, who lost fellow big man Zach Collins to a shoulder injury early this season, enter Friday 3½ games back of the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
"I worked my ass off to be in position to get back on the court and help my team, but game speed is going to be different," Nurkic told Yahoo Sports. "I'm not going to be playing 40 minutes. But for me, mentally, I need to get these reps in before I can play [extended minutes]. Physically, I'm good. I had a calf strain recently, which is normal for the injury I had. I've been pleased with where my rehab is going. I never doubted I'd be back, but I had to make sure I was 100 percent. I can't wait for [March 15]."
Nurkic averaged 15.6 points and 10.4 rebounds before the injury last season.