MILWAUKEE — Center Pau Gasol of the Milwaukee Bucks will miss the rest of the playoffs after surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot.
The Bucks said Friday that the surgery done a day earlier was successful and Gasol is expected to make a full recovery.
Gasol, 38, was signed by the Bucks on March 3 after reaching a buyout agreement with San Antonio. Gasol, a two-time NBA champion and six-time All-Star, averaged 4.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 12.2 minutes in 27 games for the Spurs this season, his 18th in the NBA. He averaged 10.1 minutes in three games for the Bucks, all during the regular season.
Gasol is one of the four players with over 20,000 points, 11,000 rebounds, 3,500 assists and 1,500 blocks in his career, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. He helped the Lakers win titles in 2009 and 2010.
TRAIL BLAZERS-NUGGETS: Damian Lillard had 32 points, including 17 in the third quarter, and Portland staved off elimination to force Game 7 in its series with Denver with a 119-108 victory at home Thursday night.
Lillard had been fairly quiet for the previous two games in the semifinal series, both Portland losses.
“I think over the course of the series, at least after Game 1, I just haven’t seen the ball go in consistently enough,” Lillard said. “My job is to stay aggressive, keep doing what I do, and tonight shots fell.”
The series now shifts to Denver, where the Nuggets will have a chance to make it to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2009. Denver has been to the conference finals three times.
CJ McCollum added 30 points for the Blazers, who haven’t advanced to the conference finals since the 2000 playoffs. Rodney Hood came off the bench with a career playoff-high 25 points.
Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 29 points and 12 rebounds, and Jamal Murray added 24 points and 10 rebounds.
“We’ll go back home, regroup, like we did for San Antonio, come back with energy and just be ready to play,” Murray said.
Seth Curry’s 3-pointer gave the Blazers a 101-88 lead with 7:24 left. Things got heated midway through the final period after Jokic was called for an offensive foul: The players got into a shoving match and there were offsetting technicals involving Will Barton and Torrey Craig of Denver, and Curry and Zach Collins of Portland.
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