Blazers big 3 come up BIG in Brooklyn for a bright-and-early win on the road

Even without Biggie Swanigan, the Blazers walk away being able to brag about the performances of their stars, perhaps in particular that of Busuf Burkic.

Ok, maybe that was a little too far to push the alliteration! Fine, let’s take the “maybe” out of there. The Blazers deserve more respect today, especially Jusuf Nurkic.

1st Quarter

Portland, fresh off Wednesday’s loss in Philly, entered Brooklyn 3-4 on the road so far this season. With the recent home loss to the Nets adding to the sting, fans would expect the Blazers to come out firing on all cylinders.

But as we’ve often seen this fall, “slow start” seems to be synonymous with “Blazers’ first half.”

Appearing stuck in the mindset of the Philadelphia game, no one seemed able to hit a shot. Despite mixing up the starting rotation (Pat Connaughton at SF with Moe Harkless going DEEP to the bench), Portland just could not get a rhythm going.

There were some quality plays on both ends of the floor. A Dame/Nurk pick and roll here, a deep three from Dame over there, even two quality blocks from Jake Layman. But the Blazers were largely unable to defend. Brooklyn touted 60% shooting and 21 points in the paint in the opening quarter.

2nd Quarter

If not for CJ McCollum, the deficit may have opened up even worse. Fortunately he was locked in on those beautiful, lofty floaters of his and kept the team (mostly) within single digits.

Halfway through the second quarter, Dame and Nurk relieved Ed Davis and Evan Turner. This set up Portland’s three-guard lineup that we’ve seen more of recently, and things finally started to click for the Blazers.

Three minutes before halftime, Portland pulled off a 10-0 run to make it a one-point game at 45-46. The Dame/Nurk pick and roll was working wonders against Brooklyn’s defense.

Even when the Nets were ready for it, the Blazers’ three-guard lineup kept the floor spread and the game close. Dame and CJ each ended the first half with 15 points in under 20 minutes of play, and Nurk chipped in nine points and four rebounds.

Second Half

With Portland’s offense finally functioning, they gained their first lead of the game at 61-60 only minutes into the second half. Ball and off-ball movement were visibly different from the first half, and the energy levels of all players seemed to rise with it. Halfway through the third quarter, Portland gained its biggest lead at 74-70.

While the lead wouldn’t last, the feel of the game was turning; even when the Blazers fell behind, there was less worry about an impending run.

Lillard caught fire to close the third quarter, getting a handoff from Turner for a deep three, then drawing three free throws, THEN nailing an even DEEPER three to tie it up at 92-92. He tallied 15 points in the quarter, along with 12 from Nurkic.

4th quarter

The fourth quarter may have well as belong to the Bosnian Beast. On offense, he drew fouls on Booker, Dinwiddie and Allen. Defensively, while Dinwiddie seemed to pierce the Blazers’ perimeter with ease, Nurkic (and Turner, to be fair) guarded the interior with precision swipes and hustle plays.

With less than two minutes to play and a four point deficit, Jusuf swiped a pass from Dinwiddie to Allen, and after a Lillard miss on the other end, secured the rebound and drew free throws, splitting the pair.

On the very next play, Nurkic came up huge again, as he and Dame stole the ball from Allen, followed by Jusuf blocking a Dinwiddie jumper, securing the rebound and passing to Dame to start the fast break as he fell out of bounds. CJ drove past two defenders on the other end to make it a one-point game.

With 27.6 seconds to go, Nurkic got blocked, but fought for the rebound, tearing the ball loose and earning a trip to the foul line following a reverse layup putback. The made free throw gave Portland a three-point lead that they would not relinquish, eventually closing the Nets out at 127-125 after some confusing officiating over possession in the closing seconds.

For the record…

Damian Lillard was stupendous, tallying 34 points on 10-19 FG, 4-6 from deep and 10-11 at the line with nine assists and four rebounds, not to mention only three turnovers. His backcourt mate, CJ McCollum, didn’t disappoint either. 26 points on 10-19 shooting isn’t going to draw much scrutiny. Five assists, two rebounds, a block, steal, and zero turnovers in 39 minutes isn’t a bad day either!

Even Evan Turner, with 27 minutes of play, contributed 13 points, four assists and three rebounds. But when it came to the box score, Portland’s bench was largely unproductive past ET. And with Brooklyn pushing the pace, the Blazers needed at least one more player to find his rhythm and help vault the team to a victory.

Enter the Bosnian Beast.

Only two Blazers players have previously posted games of 29 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks; Bill Walton (twice), and Mychal Thompson (yes, Klay’s dad). Today in Brooklyn, Jusuf Nurkic adds his name to that short list.

He finished the game with 29 points on 12-19 shooting with 15 boards, three dimes, four blocks and a steal. It was almost certainly his best game of the year.

Stay healthy out there, but don’t fight that Nurkic Fever!

Three Takeaways:

1) Nurk is finding his rhythm! Some (including Jusuf himself, in his postgame interview with Brooke Olzendam of NBC Sports Northwest), will point out that he only shot 50% from the line, hitting five of his 10 free throw attempts.

With a quick look at the box score, however, one might notice that Nurk seems to have played much more within his own game today. Nurkic was responsible for only a single turnover, and was only whistled for three fouls, despite some incredible defense down the stretch, .

We’ve heard multiple reports of teammates reminding Jusuf to play HIS game. Hopefully this is only the beginning of his return to the form he showed us during 20 games last Spring.

2) Our rotations need some adjustments. Connaughton started at SF, then the first three Blazers off the bench were Evan Turner, Jake Layman, THEN Moe Harkless.

On the one hand, it’s good to get Pat some playing time (although Shabazz Napier got pushed further down the line).

On the other hand, Jason Quick recently wrote an article detailing the troubles that Harkless has been having this season. He’s an energy player, and he’s just not bringing the energy. Moe also noted that he’s been stuck in the corner a bit and feels underutilized. Hopefully his play today will help bring back some of that energy and versatility that Blazer fans have grown to love, and will eventually add up to a bigger impact on the box score.

And let’s not worry about Napier too much yet! While he didn’t play much early, the Shabazzle Dazzle is obviously a critical part of Portland’s three-guard lineup they’ve been using to close games. Maybe the rotations don’t have to be the same in the first and second half?

Next: Thanksgiving Dinner - Portland Trailblazers Style

3) We need more Dame/Nurk pick and rolls!!! Truly, there is no greater play in the Blazers’ playbook… possibly even in the NBA! Would it be THAT bad to run this play into the ground until the defense forces Portland to do something else? Seriously, it might be worth it.

Next Game:

The Blazers finish a back-to-back in Washington D.C., taking on the Wizards tomorrow, Sat. Nov. 25 at 4PM Pacific.