Puerto Rico suffered a potentially huge blow to its Olympic hopes on Sunday morning, as star guard Jose Alvarado was forced to leave the team’s Group C opener against South Sudan late in the first half with an apparent ankle injury. Alvarado landed awkwardly on his right foot and immediately went to the ground in pain. He tried to get to his feet but eventually had to be escorted to the locker room by two trainers.
Alvarado didn’t start the second half, but he checked back into the game with just under eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. It remains to be seen how long he’ll be able to play or how the injury might affect him. The New Orleans Pelicans guard was in the middle of a sensational first half when he got hurt, dropping 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting to help Puerto Rico to an early lead. The team has yet to issue an official update.
If Alvarado is compromised or forced to miss time, it’s hard to overstate how big of a loss it would be for Puerto Rico. He’s the team’s offensive engine and emotional leader, the primary reason Puerto Rico was able to return to the Olympics for the first time since finishing sixth in Athens in 2004. Alvarado was sensational in qualifying games against Italy and Lithuania, dropping 23 and 29 points respectively and earning a legion of fans in the process:
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