February a month of resurgence for Maurice Harkless
By Nate Mann
Maurice Harkless hasn’t been able to secure consistent minutes this whole season.
Maurice Harkless began the 2017-2018 season as a starter. In the seven games of October, he played almost 30 minutes per. He averaged 8.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 1.1 blocks on 37% shooting.
Since then, his minutes have steadily decreased each month of the season. As a result, so have his stats across the board.
November 2017
Harkless retained his starter minutes (25-30 minutes) at the beginning of November. He failed to score double digits despite the playing time though and slowly watched those minutes fade.
The quick relegation to a reserve didn’t sit well with Moe.
In an interview with NBC Sports Northwest’s Jason Quick, he expressed his discontent with the offense running solely through Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic.
These comments moved him further down the bench totem pole. By the end of November, Harkless was playing single-digit minutes.
Over the course of November, he averaged 22 minutes and recorded 4.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 0.8 blocks per contest.
December 2017
December was first worse, then better for Harkless.
After the first two matchups of December when he played 5 and 12 minutes respectively, Moe was a DNP – coach’s decision for six of the next seven games. Interestingly, the Blazers lost four of the six he failed to suit up in.
On December 22, Portland brutally lost to the Denver Nuggets. Lillard sat out injured and the team looked to have no hope with the star sidelined. Harkless logged 19 minutes due to Dame’s absence and the need for any offensive kick. He scored just 4 points, but did record 1 steal and 2 blocks.
Then, like the flip of a switch, Maurice Harkless pulled out a win for the Lillard-less Blazers against the Los Angeles Lakers. He dropped 22 points on 9/16 shooting and two three-pointers in 25 minutes off the bench, crucial in the victory.
For the first time, but certainly not the last, Coach Terry Stotts had to decide what to do with Moe Harkless. Stotts gave him inconsistent minutes the next few games and Moe failed to impress.
January 2018
Just as we started losing hope in Harkless, he repeated a breakout performance, this time against the San Antonio Spurs.
Once again in the absence of Damian Lillard, Moe proved instrumental in pulling out a big win. He posted 19 points on 7/10 shooting and three three-pointers in 24 minutes. The Blazers beat the top-seeded Spurs 111-110 to even the season series.
The question resurfaced – what should Stotts do with the up-and-down Maurice Harkless?
This time, the coach kept him on a short leash. Harkless was invisible the next three games and he found himself at the end of the bench again.
He played just 12.9 minutes per game in January, averaging 3.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.4 steals and 0.5 blocks.
February 2018
Maurice Harkless became involved in many trade rumors. His age and defensive play style were attractive to contenders and tanking teams alike. Both the Sacramento Kings and OKC Thunder expressed interest in the forward, but no trade came to fruition.
Getting back on track, Harkless played a huge game to start February and earned himself more minutes (it’s tradition now).
In the embarrassing loss to a Boston Celtics team missing Kyrie Irving, he tallied 19 points, 8 rebounds and a career-high five three-pointers.
Moe’s played at least 24 minutes in the seven games since then – the Blazers are 6-1 in this span.
So far, he averages 7.9 points, 3 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.4 blocks on 53.8% shooting in 25.8 minutes in February. He’s also back in the starting lineup from October.
Next: Blazers steal victory from lowly Suns
Most recently, Harkless recorded six steals in Portland’s best defensive game of the season. Behind Moe and the team’s defense, Utah’s 11-game win streak was ended with a blowout out of the All-Star break.
An issue back in November, Harkless’s boosted defensive stats show his new willingness to be a defensively focused. This enables Dame and CJ to work their magic on offense while restoring the top ranked defense from the first few months of 2017-2018.
The Blazers have won five of its last six after losing three straight and are now fifth in the Western Conference. The team sits just 1.5 games back on the Minnesota Timberwolves for third place. And with Jimmy Butler likely out for the season, this spot is even more open for Portland to take.
Maurice Harkless is shaping Portland’s defense, while accepting his smaller role on offense. He is the key for the Blazers finally balancing its top-ranked offense and defense that historically offset one another.