Blazers vs San Antonio Spurs

Portland Trail Blazers center Robin Lopez (42) leaves the arena with a fractured hand as The Portland Trail Blazers face the San Antonio Spurs at the Moda Center.

(Bruce Ely/The Oregonian)

The Missing Link will be missing in action for the immediate future.

Robin Lopez fractured his right hand in the third quarter of the Trail Blazers' 108-95 Monday night victory over the San Antonio Spurs, and the starting center will be out "a while" according to coach Terry Stotts.

This reality sent an uncomfortable shiver down the spines of everyone in the Blazers' locker room at the Moda Center.

"I don't even want to think about having to play without RoLo," All-Star point guard Damian Lillard said.

Lopez said he wasn't sure how he suffered the injury, but it looked like he smacked his hand against the back of Boris Diaw's head while pursuing a rebound under the hoop. Lopez didn't show any immediate pain or discomfort and he continued to play with the fracture for a few minutes. Eventually he was pulled from the game, however, and preliminary tests indicated that he fractured his hand in two places.

"At first I thought I just jammed a finger or something," Lopez said. "I didn't hear a pop and I didn't feel any pain or anything. So I was just trying to shake it off. But as play went along, my hand never could regain any strength, so I figured I was more of a liability out there."

The true liability lies in Lopez's absence, particularly a lengthy one. In many ways, he's the heart and soul of the Blazers' starting lineup, a selfless, rugged, lane-clogging big man who is the unsung hero to their free-wheeling offense and linchpin to their improved defense. Lopez is averaging just 9.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, but his value is not measured solely in statistics. He's the team's best screener, best interior defender and most unselfish player.

How important is he to the Blazers' success? They are 73-34 with him on the roster and last season -- his first in Portland -- he was an integral part of the first Blazers team in 14 years to win a playoff series.

"I don't like it, I don't like it, I don't like it," LaMarcus Aldridge said, when asked about the prospect of playing without Lopez. "That's it. I can't get past I don't like it.

"He's a big part of this offense and this team and our identity. He does so many things that people don't notice. He's a hard worker, that guy that does things that nobody else really does in the first unit. So it's going to be tough."

Aldridge joked that he was so distraught about Lopez's injury, he bee-lined to the locker room after the game to find him, and, when he wasn't immediately visible, Aldridge panicked.

"I was going to drive to his house if I couldn't see him," Aldridge said.

But Lopez eventually materialized wearing a big gauze bandage/cast around his hand. Lopez said he would know more about the extent of his injury and have a rough timeline about how long he'll be out on Tuesday, after he undergoes further medical testing. The Blazers first test without Lopez will come Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, when the teams play at the Moda Center.

It will not only be the first game Lopez will miss in a Blazers uniform, but also the first he will miss at all since the 2011-12 season.

"It's frustrating," Lopez said. "We've been playing so well and I've been having such a great time being a part of this team and this season, which I plan to still be. I'm just going to have to do that from the sidelines as a teammate. That's going to be a little frustrating. But we've got a lot of great guys, we have a plethora of big men. We'll be fine."

It's unclear who Stotts will start in Lopez's absence, but he has options. Chris Kaman is the most experienced Blazers' big man and the one-time All-Star has 523 starts under his belt. But he's the featured player on the second unit, so it seems more likely Stotts will turn to one of his younger big men to fill the void. Meyers Leonard and Joel Freeland are the most likely options. Thomas Robinson also could see an uptick in playing time.

"It's going to be different," Matthews said. "It's going to be an adjustment. Everybody's going to have to step up their defense and work that much harder. What RoLo provides, it's not something that you can really put into a stat sheet. Some games he will stuff that stat sheet up, but his talking, his activity, his unselfishness on offense and defense, his energy; we'll have our work cut out for us. But, unfortunately, that's part of the game and we have guys that are going to be willing and are going to need to step up."

After getting over his preference to avoid thinking about playing without Lopez, Lillard made himself deal with reality. In the end, the best he could hope for is that Lopez won't miss too much time.

"He's the most selfless guy on the team," Lillard said. "It's going to be tough without him. I think everybody in the locker room hates to see him not playing because of an injury. Hopefully we'll get him back out there as soon as possible."

--Joe Freeman | @BlazerFreeman