Portland Trail Blazers' backup center Enes Kanter was tasked to fill in the void left by Jusuf Nurkic, who suffered a season-ending leg injury a couple of weeks ago.
The Turkish big man didn't disappoint.
Kanter scored 20 points and grabbed 18 boards to help the Blazers hold-off the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-99 to take Game 1 of their first round best-of-seven series.
He's also the first player in 14 years to put up such numbers in a playoff debut.
Enes Kanter finished his first #NBAPlayoffs game for the @trailblazers with 20 PTS & 18 REB. The last player to put up at least 18 PTS & 18 REB in his postseason debut for a particular team was Andres Nocioni for Chicago in 2005 (25 PTS, 18 REB). @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/RR7BWVB9gh
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) April 14, 2019
Kanter shot an efficient 8-15 from the field, providing the Blazers with an extra option on offense. He also helped protect the rim for his team, making the absence of Nurkic less painful for Portland.
The Blazers are coming off back-to-back first round losses, and heading into the game against the Thunder, they are on a 10-game playoff losing streak. Kanter helped Portland start their postseason campaign this year on a good note.
Rebounding is one of the strengths of the Blazers this season, and Kanter is one of the main reasons why they have excelled in that area even more over the past month. He's averaging close to four offensive rebounds per game this year and 5.2 over the last nine contests. His inside presence helped contain OKC's Steven Adams from doing damage in the rebounding department.
The Blazers are looking to advance to the conference semi-finals for the first time in three years, and Kanter gives them a much-needed boost on both ends of the floor. The eight-year veteran will definitely play a key role in Portland's success moving forward.
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