NBA gamers have missed video games for loads of uncommon causes. Former Sacramento Kings ahead Lionel Simmons as soon as harm his wrist and missed two video games as a result of he performed an excessive amount of Recreation Boy. Dennis Rodman infamously missed time in the course of the 1998 season as a result of he needed to take an impromptu journey to Las Vegas. On Wednesday, we added one other uncommon absence to the checklist. Portland Path Blazers middle Deandre Ayton missed his sport in opposition to the Brooklyn Nets due to ice.

Sure, ice. Frozen water. Portland has been coping with brutally chilly climate for many of the previous week. There may be at the moment an enormous sheet of ice main out of Ayton’s neighborhood. Ayton has missed the previous 11 video games as a consequence of damage, and through his pre-game press convention, Blazers coach Chauncey Billups defined that whereas Ayton was wholesome sufficient to play, he hadn’t but arrived on the area. Casey Holdahl reported that Ayton spent hours looking for a technique to fight the ice, however couldn’t discover a answer that may get him to the world. So he sat out.

The Blazers in the end began Duop Reath in Ayton’s place, as they’ve executed for the previous six video games whereas Ayton has been injured, and it in the end labored out for them. The Blazers overcame an 11-point deficit to win within the closing seconds due to an Anfernee Simons runner. Even when they’d misplaced, the stakes of the sport have been luckily considerably minimal for the Blazers. At 10-29 getting into the sport, the Blazers aren’t precisely within the thick of the playoff race, so the absence of their beginning middle would not have meant a lot within the grand scheme of issues. If something, this incident may assist the Blazers plan for future ice-related points.

Nonetheless, “DNP-ice” is a brand new one the place the NBA is worried. Sadly, Ayton didn’t obtain that designation earlier than the sport, as an alternative getting dominated out as “not with staff” on the injury report. Ayton ought to be again on the ground Friday when the Blazers host the Indiana Pacers.