In a major update, New Orleans Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas will not play in Wednesday's game versus the Portland Trail Blazers. For the unversed, Jonas Valančiūnas is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association. He was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. At the 2019 trade deadline, he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. Ultimately, he ended up with the New Orleans Pelicans. However, Jonas Valanciunas injury has forced him sit at the bench and miss out the important game against Portland Trail Blazers. Pelicans fans are disappointed and wondering what exactly happened to Jonas Valanciunas or what is Jonas Valanciunas' injury. The answer lies below-
What happened to Jonas Valanciunas?
As per US media reports, Valanciunas will watch from the sidelines after the New Orleans' center was ruled out with a calf injury. Expect Jaxson Hayes and Willy Hernangomez to see a boost in playing time on Wednesday night. Per Rotogrinders' Court IQ in 319.1 minute with Valanciunas off the floor, Hayes is averaging 0.94 FanDuel points per minute while Hernangomez's average stands at 1.28 FanDuel points in a 383.4 minutes sample size.
Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers prediction
The Portland Trail Blazers are short home favorites on Wednesday night when they host the floundering New Orleans Pelicans. Both sides will be without key offensive players like Zion Williamson and Anfernee Simons, but how will these offenses adapt without them? On Wednesday night, Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans will lock horns as both are fighting to get into the play-in tournament. The Trail Blazers won their first meeting by 11 points, but they play three more times before the end of the season. After their loss last night, the Trail Blazers remain a half-game behind the Pelicans in the standings. Luckily they return home to Portland where they are 17-14 this season. They are 18-11 as favorites while covering in 48.4% of those games. However, it is worth noting that, the Pelicans have lost four consecutive games and 15 of their last 19 overall. They have fallen from among the top six in the standings to now on the outside looking in. Their 10-21 road record will be put to the test tonight.