OKLAHOMA CITY — Jazz center Mehmet Okur left in the first half of Utah’s game at Oklahoma City after being poked in his right eye and did not return.
Okur got popped in the face when the Thunder’s Chucky Atkins made a swipe at the ball as he ran by on defense. Okur crumpled to the ground for a few moments before being replaced and heading to the locker room with 7:41 left before halftime.
“I just wanted to stay on the floor because I couldn’t see anything,” Okur said. “It’s tough.”
Jazz trainers reported that Okur hadn’t sustained any damage to his eye, but was seeing double.
“The doctors did a good job. They checked my eye, and (there’s) nothing in there. My eye is fine,” Okur said. “Just a punch. They say I’m going to feel a lot better in a couple days.”
Okur, who came in as Utah’s second-leading scorer with a 17.6-point average, said he couldn’t really remember what happened on the play but he didn’t think it was a dirty play by Atkins.
“Stuff like that happens,” Okur said. “It’s part of the game.”
Okur had a welt on the lower part of his right eyelid an the whites of his eyes were noticeably red as he carried an ice pack in the locker room after the game.
“I feel a lot better right now but still not 100 percent,” Okur said.
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