Look at a box score from the Trail Blazers’ game one win over the Nuggets Saturday, and you would think Damian Lillard was the catalyst for Portland stealing home court advantage in this series. The guys scored 34 points and sunk five three-pointers.
That’s pretty good… But what Jusuf Nurkic’s play was as vital, or more, to a Portland victory. His double-double stat line of 16 and 12 is impressive, but it was his individual defense that really made the difference.
Portland’s game plan was to leave Nurkic in one-on-one defensive situations against presumptive MVP Nikola Jokic. Thought the Nuggets’ big man was able to score 34 points, the vast majority of that scoring came when Enes Kanter was tasked with that assignment. Jamal Murray’s absence from the lineup was obvious from the beginning. Denver was not able to hit shots from the outside when double-team opportunities left players open.
Michael Porter Jr. was productive in his playoff debut, but he went 1-10 from three-point range. That type of abysmal shooting as a team’s second option won’t net you too many wins. Aaron Gordon also seemed contained on the lower block which allowed Nurkic to continue his one-on-one match up against Jokic.
It’s expected the Nuggets will shoot better than 30% from three-point range as the series continues. It’s also logical to think the Trail Blazers will not be able to sustain 47% shooting from three-point range. As these two occurrences play out in the next week, look for Nurkic to be the stabilizing force for this Trail Blazers team.
