Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh leaves the game with a bloody nose in the first quarter in an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.Tony Dejak
Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh underwent successful surgery in Cleveland today to repair a displaced nasal fracture and will almost certainly be out of action for the remainder of the regular season, which wraps up April 14th, though he could be back in time for the post-season if the Raptors qualify.
The operation Wednesday was to return the broken bone to it's normal anatomical position - a procedure knows as an enclosed reduction, said Raptors team medical director Dr. Paul Marks. It required a small incision though not the use of plates and screws which would have meant a much more invasive surgery and kept him out for as long as six weeks.
Dr. Marks said Bosh would be reassessed in a week to 10 days and at that time might be a candidate to play in the post-season, albeit with a protective mask in place. Bosh also had a hairline fracture to his maxilla bone on the right side of his face but it was non-displaced and didn't require surgery and wasn't considered a factor that would affect the time table of his return.
"No one has a crystal ball, but as you look at the time frames as the calendar barrels down upon us we're looking at those types of time frames over the next seven-to-10 days, so you can surmise from that," said Dr. Marks, when asked if Bosh's regular season was over.
The Raptors have five games left in their regular season including Wednesday night's game against Boston. They have a one-game lead over the Chicago Bulls for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Bosh was injured when the Cleveland Cavaliers' Antawn Jamison hit him with an inadvertent elbow with just over two minutes played in the Raptors 113-101 loss to Cleveland on Tuesday night.
Bosh was on the floor bleeding and in considerable pain before being led off with a towel pressed over his face. He was taken to the Cleveland Clinic immediately for a CT scan. He returned to the arena by the end of the game but then returned to hospital overnight Wednesday.
He's expected to fly to Toronto Thursday.
"The ball went behind me and [my arm]went back and his face was there," said Jamison, who wasn't called for a foul. "I didn't think it was that severe, but when he went down you kind of knew it was more severe, and then you saw blood. I didn't think I hit him that hard at all, just a bad angle and an unfortunate play."
Bosh is expected to be a free agent this summer and there has been widespread speculation that he will be leaving the Raptors at the end of his seventh season with the team. He was drafted No.4 overall in the 2003 draft and is the Raptors all-time leader in nine different statistical categories including scoring (10,275) rebounding (4,776), blocked shots (600) and minutes played (18,813).
He's averaging a career high 24 points and 10.8 rebounds this season.