Vs: Utah Jazz
Date: 19/01/21
Result: Blazers win: 109-104
Nurkic: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 blocks, 1 steals
Rudy Gobert is a 2-time Defensive Player of the Year. 3-time All-Defensive Teamer. Even led the NBA in blocked shots in 2017. But in this game, it sure didn’t look like it.
Nurkic finished with 22 points, 8 boards, 7 assists and 6 blocks, and seemed to control absolutely everything- on both ends of the floor.
Aside from maybe Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert will be the best defensive presence the Blazers will face in that 8-game regular season stretch, and the fact Nurkic has these sorts of stats against him? Good news, to say the least.
Nurkic actually fouled out in this game, albeit with just 40 seconds to go. He was quiet in the fourth quarter anyway; scoring wise, he didn’t do much in the first half either. The third quarter, however, was a completely different story.
Nurkic had 17 points in the third, and this surge of scoring proved to be the switch in momentum that Portland needed. Going into halftime, the Blazers trailed 51-44. At the end of the third quarter, they had a four-point lead – Nurkic had turned it around.
It’s these sorts of games where Nurk will help the Blazers the most, when the center takes some scoring load off of Lillard and McCollum, even if it’s just for the one quarter. It was the difference vs the Jazz here, and it could be the difference for the Blazers come July.