Let’s talk about these Jusuf Nurkic and Maurice Harkless dunks from the Portland Trail Blazers win over the Phoenix Suns

There were two dunks from the Portland Trail Blazers recent win over the Phoenix Suns that are worth highlighting.

Poetry is mostly boring and pretentious, but every so often it merges with basketball to create something truly magical. On Saturday night’s smackdown of the Phoenix Suns, the Portland Trail Blazers got back-to-back jams from Jusuf Nurkic and Maurice Harkless that exemplified the best parts of both of their games.

First, there was Nurkic, who proved treacherous for the Suns defense in the pick-and-roll with Damian Lillard. Phoenix’s Tyler Johnson couldn’t get around Nurk’s screens and rookie Deandre Ayton stepped up right in between Dame and Nurkic, opening up space for the bounce pass and serving Kelly Oubre, Jr. to the Bosnian Beast.

This January, Nurkic spoke with the Athletic’s Jason Quick about simplifying his game to rely more heavily on his 6’11”, 280 lbs frame. Less and less do we see Nurk roleplay as a modern-day finesse-center with flip shots and three-point range. Instead, he is carving out space down low for 10.2 rebounds – one of 16 players in the league with double digit boards – and hanging on the rim more often, with 69 dunk attempts already through 65 games, up from his 68 all of last year.

Nurkic does not need to do an impression of Kelly Olynyk. When he isn’t the screen-setter in high pick-and-roll, he should be hanging around near the rim. He should be diving to the basket and using the high-post almost exclusively to pass from. He can affect games more reliably in these ways and put pressure on teams to matchup with him.

Just after Nurkic’s slam, Moe Harkless disrupted Josh Jackson for the steal and drive right down the lane for a dunk of his own. Nobody picked him up, and Harkless made them pay. To be the fifth guy in this starting lineup, he needs glue-guy sensibilities. Being opportunistic like this will keep him a productive member of the rotation:

Throughout the victory, Moe pushed the pace on each of his rebounds. Putting the ball in Harkless’s hands for transition can force the defense into matchup problems with Lillard and CJ McCollum, and Harkless himself is showing a better ability to finish lately.

In his last nine, Moe has been a vital part of this Portland Trail Blazers team. He is averaging 11.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game with a +11.2 plus-minus.

Utilizing Harkless in the fast break weaponizes his athleticism, turning his defensive ability into easier offensive situations for him to finish in. Because each side of the floor has fed into itself more naturally recently, it’s probably no wonder we’re seeing Moe more engaged; over this same stretch, he is shooting .555 from the floor and is nabbing two steals per contest.

The dunks were emblematic of the types of plays each player should make every night. After Harkless’s jam, the Blazers went up by 11 and only gained ground until garbage time gave dignity to the Suns in the form of a 127-120 loss.