Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter Jr. will miss Game 6 against the Toronto Raptors on Friday after undergoing minor surgery earlier in the day to relieve a buildup of blood around the contusion on his left leg.
The injury and procedure will sideline him indefinitely, and in addition to Game 6 he would also miss a potential Game 7 if the Wizards hold off elimination Friday, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The Wizards trail the Raptors 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
In a release sent Friday afternoon, the team said that the procedure was done to address compartment syndrome, defined as “a critical increase in pressure resulting from an injury,” in Porter’s lower left leg. The minor surgery was deemed necessary to prevent permanent damage to Porter’s muscles in the injured area.
Porter, who averaged 10 points on 48.8 percent shooting as well as five rebounds during the first-round series, will miss his first playoff game since his rookie season in 2014.
“You could tell when O.P.’s been healthy and when he’s not,” John Wall said. “When he’s not slashing and cutting to the basket, you can tell he’s dealing with something. He’s probably been dealing with it for a while, but he’s been going out there and giving us everything he’s got as a teammate. And we respect and appreciate that as much as possible.”
Since the end of the regular season, Porter has dealt with several injuries. On March 29, Porter left the game in Detroit after rolling his right ankle. Then, Porter missed the regular-season finale in Orlando with a right calf strain. This new injury of a bone contusion in his left leg, however, appears to have flared up sometime during the playoffs and helps explain his decreased production in the five previous games against Toronto.
Porter, who averaged 14.7 points on 50.3 percent shooting in the regular season, has not attempted more than 10 shots in a game and has scored in single digits in three of five, never exceeding 12 points.
After the Wizards fell into an 0-2 hole, Coach Scott Brooks was asked about Porter’s production and limited minutes, particularly in Game 2 when he played just 25 minutes. Brooks described Porter as being “100 percent healthy.”
Backup forward Kelly Oubre Jr. will likely start in Porter’s place. In an understated fashion, Oubre described how he would approach the potential role.
“Just got to take my energy drink a little earlier,” Oubre said. “Take my pregame caffeine pill and I’ll be good.”
Without Porter, the Wizards face the most important game of the season. After the team’s morning session, Wall appeared to be unmoved by the obstacle.
“Lot of confidence,” Wall said. “Just go out there and play basketball, try to protect home court like we did the last two games we had here. Just like they did the three games they had at home. And next man up, just got to come out and perform.”
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