On a night the Portland Trail Blazers welcomed back a piece of the rotation, they lost another one.
Matisse Thybulle underwent surgery Friday morning to repair a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, the team announced, and will be sidelined for several weeks. The backup wing will be reevaluated in four-to-six weeks.
The injury, discovered during magnetic resonance imaging testing Thursday, ocurred during the final play of the first half in the Blazers’ 136-134 win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
After Thybulle snatched a steal in the backcourt, he initiated offense the other way and tossed an alley-oop to Caleb Love. During the play, Thybulle collided awkwardly with a Utah defender and immediately appeared to be favoring his hand.
Two days later, Thybulle was in Los Angeles, undergoing a procedure by doctor Steven S. Shin, at the Cedars Sinai/Kerlan-Jobe Surgery Center.
Thybulle’s defensive intensity and timely scoring have been an important part of the Blazers’ second unit, which entered Friday ranked sixth in the NBA in bench scoring (43.0 points per game). Thybulle is averaging 5.0 points, 2.5 steals and 1.0 rebounds per game.
“Everybody’s got to bring something because ‘Tisse, it’s big time,” interim coach Tiago Splitter said. “He’s one of our best defenders and (provides) a lot of juice in that second unit. So we’re going to miss him.”
Splitter said Kris Murray and Rayan Rupert likely will see more playing time in Thybulle’s absence.
But the injury news wasn’t all bad for the Blazers on Friday — backup center Robert Williams III is expected to make his season debut.
Williams has played in just 26 games over two seasons because of multiple knee injuries and a balky hamstring. But after easing back into late in training camp and completing a practice stint in the G League with the Rip City Remix, Williams has been cleared to play limited minutes Friday against the Denver Nuggets.
Williams, who was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2022, averaged 5.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 20 games last season for the Blazers. His imposing defensive and interior scoring presence should be a boon to the Blazers’ already-strong second unit.
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