The Trail Blazers are definitely better than the Phoenix Suns: Morning Blazer

What’s on our minds this morn? Well, we’re thinking of that nice win against the Phoenix Suns. And we’re wondering about Jusuf Nurkic. Again.

Good morning, Rip City. Welcome to your hump day Morning Blazer! Aren’t Wednesday’s so much better when the Trail Blazers win the night before?

We think so. Even the gray sky outside our window seems a little less gray-ey today.

On with it, then.

Suns vs. Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns Tuesday 118-111 in a game that wasn’t really as close as the final score would indicate. At one point, Portland opened up a 27-point lead, only to see it dwindle in the closing minutes thanks to the Suns’ Devin Booker, who scored 43 points and took 29 shots.

Fortunately for the Trail Blazers, the Suns had little production from the rest of their crew, aside from Troy Daniels who lit it up from three (6-of-11) and scored 18 points.

The Trail Blazers by contrast had one of their most complete games of the season. Portland got production from up and down the lineup.

Damian Lillard scored 31 points. He also had 7 assists and 5 rebounds. CJ McCollum danced and darted his way to 27 points, including 6-of-10 on three-pointers. Al-Farouq Aminu scored 14 (4-for-7 on threes), Evan Turner scored 12 and Shabazz Napier had 11.

The Trail Blazers shot 50.5 percent from three.

Winning!

Winning makes everything better. Even if it’s against the Phoenix Suns. The Trail Blazers are now 3-0 against the Suns this season.

So, in a season filled with so much uncertainty, Rip City knows one thing for sure: The Trail Blazers are better than the Suns.

So at least we got that going for us.

The Trail Blazers are now 23-21, good for seventh in the crowded Western Conference. They’ll play Thursday at home against the Indiana Pacers (24-20).

At Least One Exception

One notable exception to the Trail Blazers team win was Jusuf Nurkic, who seems to have gone into disappearance mode again. The “Bosnian Beast” was once again the “Bosnian Least,” scoring just 9 points on 4-of-9 shooting. And he only played six minutes in the first half.

In three of Portland’s last four games, Nurkic has failed to score at least 10 points. And he’s failed to grab at least 10 rebounds in seven of his last eight games.

In fact, in 41 starts this season, Nurkic has failed to grab at least 10 rebounds in 30 of those games.

Future for the Beast?

Nurkic’s inconsistency is a major factor in the Trail Blazers’ topsy-turvy, frustratingly mediocre season. If he doesn’t step it up soon, he could find himself riding the pine for extended minutes like he did against the Suns.

Next: How the Trail Blazers could sign LeBron James this offseason

And with rookie Zach Collins establishing himself as a reliable performer and earning major minutes, plus Caleb Swanigan returning soon from the G League, Nurkic might see even less playing time.

How will he respond if that happens?