Jusuf Nurkic Answers Call in Blazers' Blowout Game 4 Victory
Portland dominated Denver in a must-win Game 4 behind outstanding two-way play from Jusuf Nurkic.
Notes, observations, analysis, clips and more from the Trail Blazers' blowout 115-95 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs.
- Portland asked more of Jusuf Nurkic than it ever has on Saturday, and he answered the call with one of the most impactful postseason games of his career. The Bosnian Beast not only matched Nikola Jokic's minutes in Game 4, but thoroughly outplayed the MVP frontrunner. Nurkic was a monster defensively, forcing Jokic into tough shots one-on-one and cleaning up teammates' mistakes with help contests and blocks at the rim. He was nearly as good on the other end, going right at Jokic for multiple post scores and making hay as a scorer and passer out of short rolls. Nurkic was the best player on the floor Saturday – so good that he was able to watch the game's last 15-and-a-half minutes from the bench as Portland salted away the massive lead his two-way presence sparked. If Nurkic can duplicate this performance going forward, or even proves capable of matching Jokic minute-for-minute over this series' remainder, it's difficult to imagine the Blazers falling to the Nuggets.
- Nurkic was very good against Jokic defensively, making Denver's franchise player work for early post position and staying attached to him on the perimeter en route to mostly relegating him to face-up jumpers. Jokic can knock down those shots, of course, and did so with frightening ease in the first three games of this series. He came back down to earth on Saturday, needing 18 shots to score 16 points before getting early rest as Portland extended its game-long lead to 30 late in the third quarter. Nurkic certainly played a part in Jokic's rare struggles, and so did some subtle defensive adjustments from the Blazers elsewhere. Don't be surprised if these shots fall going forward, though, just like they did in the first half of this series.
- Speaking of regression to the mean: Denver followed up the best three-point shooting performance in franchise playoff history by going 13-of-44 from beyond the arc, good for 29.5 percent shooting. Those ugly numbers would be even worse if the Nuggets hadn't made five triples in a garbage-time fourth quarter. Portland cooled off from deep after a hot start, but the most significant takeaway from Game 3 played out on the floor two days later. The Nuggets' iffy shooters missed good looks they knocked down on Thursday, and the Blazers' quality shooters made a bit more of the good looks they missed 48 hours ago. Portland, obviously, did far more to blow out Denver than on Saturday than be on the right side of shooting luck. But the NBA, especially for a team as reliant on the three as the Blazers, is a make-or-miss league for a reason, and the wildly disparate results of Games 3 and 4 are a stark reminder of that reality.
- "Playoff Norm" showed up for the first time on Saturday, just the force of aggression, athleticism and confidence that earned him that moniker with the Toronto Raptors. Powell's game-high 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting were easy to see coming after the first few possessions, too. The Blazers started the game flowing into a Powell dribble hand-off with Nurkic, yielding all the momentum he needed to blow right by Jokic and finish at the rim with a slick Eurostep over Facundo Campazzo. His chest-to-chest defense goaded a turnover from Michael Porter Jr. on the next possession, with Powell grabbing the loose ball and racing up the floor in transition for layup. He also made a concerted effort to attack the rim in the halfcourt all game long, stopping on a dime for off-dribble twos when he saw a crowded paint. Powell drained all four of his three-point attempts, too, not shy to pull up off the dribble or immediately catch and fire when he had some space. Moda Center eventually serenaded Powell with a chant, well-deserved recognition for the type of assertive postseason performance the Blazers imagined when trading for him at the deadline.
- Portland's transition offense wasn't limited to leak-out thunder dunks, by the way. The Blazers were opportunistic pushing the pace in Game 4, playing early in the shot clock when they could to keep the Nuggets' defense from getting set. Damian Lillard never found his jumper, but the simple hit-ahead passes he tossed throughout Saturday's action were a major reason why Portland scored 20 fast-break points in a slow-paced affair.
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, as expected, took Enes Kanter's place in the rotation as Nurkic went step-for-step with Jokic. Hollis-Jefferson was hardly spectacular in Game 4, but offered more than enough defensively in the Blazers' small-ball unit for Terry Stotts to make his place in the rotation permanent, at least until the end of this series.
- Portland slightly tweaked its defensive approach on Saturday, sending intermittent help at Jokic from behind when he put the ball on the floor, laying a bit further off Denver's worst shooters and occasionally going under ball screens. Frankly, those changes didn't seem the biggest cause of Jokic's individual labors; for the most part, he just missed shots. Expect the Blazers to continue operating a bit more aggressive defensive scheme against the Nuggets going forward, though. Maybe more important? That Portland plays with the edge, intensity and competitive fire on that side of the ball that was palpable throughout Game 4.