Bobby Portis' flagrant foul ruins Tomas Satoransky's career night
On Saturday night, Chicago Bulls forward Bobby Portis swept through the Washington Wizards’ healthy point guards like a hurricane. But unlike his run-in with Nikola Mirotic’s face in training camp, neither injury caused by Portis was intentional.
With 2:35 left in regulation, Tomas Satoransky drove baseline and left his feet for a two-handed dunk. Portis rotated from the weakside to contest, met Satoransky in the air and fouled him hard on the arm. As Satoransky tumbled backward, his head scarily bounced off the hardwood and began bleeding from a cut, but he never lost consciousness. He eventually walked off and was examined by medical personnel. The collision concluded a career night for Satoransky, who scored 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting that included five made 3-pointers.
Portis was assessed a flagrant foul-2 despite never having made contact with the head or neck area above Satoransky’s shoulders.
Earlier in the game, backup Wizards point guard Tim Frazier also exited after stumbling head-first into Portis’ knees. An X-ray after the game showed Frazier suffered a nasal fracture, and that will possibly require surgery. With Satoransky placed in the concussion protocol and Frazier’s busted nose, the Wizards are out of point guards.
Washington held on for a 101-90 victory, but now their point guard depth is a mess.
The NBA is weird and serendipitous sometimes. On the day Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Washington Wizards were considering signing Derrick Rose, his former team may have accidentally helped facilitate his path to D.C.
John Wall will likely be absent for another 4-to-6 weeks, leaving the Wizards in a bind, no matter how much time Satoransky spends in the concussion protocol. There’s even a petty incentive for Derrick Rose to link up with the Wizards over reuniting with Tom Thibodeau on the Timberwolves.
The Wizards are currently 32-24. That places them only two games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, who traded Rose to the Utah Jazz, for the Eastern Conference’s third-seed. A few hours ago, the Wizards would probably have passed on Rose, but he may become a necessity in the aftermath of Hurricane Portis.
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DJ Dunson is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at dunsnchecksin@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or Facebook.
