How Lillard and Nurkic can improve their pick and rolls

The Portland Trail Blazers run pick and rolls on almost 25% of their offensive possessions. Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic were successful off the screen, but have room for improvement.

Last season, the Portland Trail Blazers ran 1,919 pick and rolls – that’s over 23 per game. Teams generally get around 100 possessions per game, meaning the Blazers run pick and rolls on nearly a quarter of its trips down the floor.

Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic spearhead the team’s PnR movement; 47.6% of Lillard’s and 27.6% of Nurkic’s possessions involved a pick and roll.

The Blazers offense benefitted from their two-man play. Lillard scored on 44.6% of his attempts after going around a screen, and Nurkic scored on 51.9% of his attempts after setting a screen.

However, there’s still plenty of room for improvement between the two.

How to improve Blazers PnR

With James Harden and Clint Capela, the Houston Rockets are built to run the pick and roll.

Harden has the size, offensive prowess, and court vision to toy with defenders until they either commit or leave him for the shot. Capela has the complementary speed and vertical to capitalize on any pass from Harden once the opposing center commits elsewhere.

Unfortunately, Lillard doesn’t have the size nor Nurkic the vertical to run pick and rolls at the frequency and success rate that Houston does. That’s not to say they can’t execute the play similarly and less frequently, though.

To create easier opportunities off the screen, Lillard needs to exercise more patience, and Nurkic needs to cut to the hoop harder.

Harden does well to wait until he, Capela, and the opposing center are all near the paint. Eventually, the defender has to commit, leaving Capela open under the hoop for an alley-oop.

Lillard, on the other hand, makes his decision to give the ball to Nurkic quickly after the screen is set.

Nurkic receives the ball too far away from the hoop for an easy layup or dunk, leading to those trademark unorthodox flip shots that rarely fall. Also, the early pass allows the opposing center to recover and contest Nurkic’s shot.

All the blame isn’t on Lillard. Now that Nurkic has somewhat of a midrange jumper (37.6% shooting on two-point attempts outside 16 feet), he occasionally fades after setting the screen instead of cutting to the hoop.

Defenders who don’t care about Nurkic shooting a low percentage shot can focus on stopping Lillard’s drive by double-teaming him. Either outcome – Nurkic midrange or Dame layup – is a low percentage attempt.

If Lillard waits longer to make his pass, therefore forcing the defender to commit, and Nurkic consistently rolls to the rim, the pick and roll will result in better looks for Portland.

Leaving Nurkic wide open under the hoop should result in more dunks as well. His lack of aggressiveness in the paint angered Blazers fans all of last season, and their anger is justified.

In 2017-2018, 6% of the big man’s shot attempts were dunks. Comparatively, 33.9% of Capela’s shots were dunks.

On the limited attempts, 90.9% were assisted, meaning more passes under the rim will get Nurkic dunking the ball more. And as we know, dunks are as easy as shots come.

James Harden has a play style that’s difficult to enjoy. However, his execution on pick and rolls with Clint Capela is something the Blazers should take note of.

While Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic aren’t built for the alley-oop PnR sequence like Harden and Capela are, they can still create easier baskets under the rim by being more patient and cutting to the hoop more consistently.

Although the pairing was successful last season, adding another layer to their pick and rolls will improve a play run so frequently by the Blazers.