Jusuf Nurkic did all he could to account for the absences of his team's two leading scorers on Monday night. Unfortunately for the depleted Portland Trail Blazers, it just wasn't enough to get Chauncey Billups' crew a much-needed victory.
Portland fell to the Los Angeles Clippers 102-90 at Moda Center, its third straight home defeat after beginning the regular season 10-1 in Rip City. But unlike in previous losses to the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs, the Blazers put forth an effort that gave them a puncher's chance to win in the fourth quarter — and just as importantly, made their increasingly frustrated coach proud.
“As short-handed as we were, we had opportunities to win that game,” Billups said, “and that's all you ever want.”
Sustained engagement and intensity weren't the only reasons Portland — playing without not just Damian Lillard, Nassir Little and Anfernee Simons, but also CJ McCollum, a late scratch — kept pace with the Clippers despite its unenviable circumstances of health and front-office upheaval.
Nurkic scraped a peak he hadn't reached in years on Monday night, dominating offensively en route to a season-high 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting. That total is his highest in a single game since a game against the Brooklyn Nets on March 25, 2019, the same game Nurkic suffered that devastating compound fracture in his left leg. His pre-injury touch and dexterity was on full display from the opening tip. Nurkic went right through no matter who the Clippers threw at him on the block, splashed multiple jumpers and was as composed and physical as he has been all season finishing on the roll.
“I was happy for Nurk, he had a huge night,” Billups said. “There was no answer for him. There was nothing that they could do. I found myself just trying to give him plays off and not run every single play for him.”
One aspect of Nurkic's awesome performance against LA stood out above all else: His brute patience upon catching the ball in the paint. The Bosnian Beast manhandled Ivica Zubac for multiple and-ones, bumping LA's starting center on the dribble to create space. He outmuscled Zubac and Isaiah Hartenstein for a couple deep scores with aggressive post seals, and easily held off Serge Ibaka when being fronted on the block for another bucket plus the foul.
Nurkic's sudden scoring outburst wasn't all that surprising to Billups. Why? He has been harping on the merits of Nurkic deploying a more deliberate, forceful approach with the ball down low since training camp.
“He was just a force. Running plays for him, he's a big weapon we can have,” Billups said. “I always say this, when Nurk slows down and takes his time, he's a handful, he's a handful. And we seen that tonight.”
Nurkic hasn't enjoyed the career campaign thus far that he predicted during the offseason.
He has still been a true impact player defensively despite game-by-game inconsistencies and his less-than-perfect fit in Billups' aggressive scheme, though, posting a -8.7 net defensive rating, per Cleaning the Glass, easily best on the team and in the 90th percentile among all players league-wide. But Nurkic's stellar 59% shooting, unfortunately, hasn't been an indication of offensive strides that would make him an indispensable cog of Portland's present and future.
Of course, that would change if Nurkic just comes close to playing the way he did Monday night on a regular basis. For both his sake and the struggling Blazers', let's hope that comes to pass.
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