Jusuf Nurkic
Per Game Stats: 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists per game on 43.9 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from 3, and 78.3 percent from the free throw line
Advanced Metrics: 52.9 true shooting percentage, -21.0 on-off swing, 20.7 usage percentage
Statistics might not completely back up the statement, but it seemed to take Nurkic a bit of time to warm up to this series. Part of that is understandable; his excellent regular season play could cause us to forget this was just his 13th game in 17 months, and his first Playoff series since 2018.
The most glaring drawbacks came offensively, as he sometimes looked to struggle in how to react in those 4-on-3 situations when Lillard would draw in both defenders, and from there, it became solely based on reactions and intuition. His shooting percentages dropped, but he deserves a ton of credit for having found a way to stack the box score, even without scoring at his normal rate.
One couldn’t help but draw parallels to the New Orleans Pelicans ‘ series, when the Trail Blazers assigned him the unenviable task of shading Anthony Davis from time-to-time along the perimeter. That was a nightmare matchup beforehand, especially if teams continued to target him in pick-and-roll situations, and dribble hand-offs.
We briefly mentioned the Nurkic-Whiteside pairing, and how it looked great in theory. It didn’t quite dominate the way one would’ve hoped. And on film, it seemed as though they weren’t quite the force on the glass, either. The Lakers corralled 62 offensive rebounds in the five-game series, even as the two logged heavy minutes.
Going forward, this serves to benefit Nurkic well. Despite the optimism, it’s difficult to imagine the Trail Blazers trying to run him in a pseudo-four, double-big lineup where neither are feared floor stretchers.
He did a lot of good this series, but he wasn’t quite the gamebreaker that arrived to the bubble. And considering the mental hurdles he had to overcome in the days prior to the postseason, that’s understandable.
Grade: B-