NBA bubble play-in game: 3 takeaways from Damian Lillard and the Blazers’ victory
3. Big men still have value in today’s NBA
As most NBA fans know, most team offenses in today’s game are predicated on the 3-point shot. Long gone are the days in which you see big men put up huge numbers on a given night.
However, in this memorable contest, the center position came up big for both the Trail Blazers and the Grizzlies. Jonas Valanciunas — who notched his first career triple-double against the Bucks to help put Memphis in this play-in game — was a beast for Memphis. He finished with an impressive stat line of 22 points, 17 rebounds and six assists.
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On the other side of the equation, Jusuf Nurkic, whose grandmother passed away before the game, was just as effective for the Trail Blazers. He finished with a 20-20 stat line that included 22 points 21 rebounds and he also had six assists. What should be mentioned is the fact that Nurkic did not play during the regular season due to a leg injury he sustained back in March of 2019.
But despite being away from the court for 18 months, Nurkic posted averages of 17.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 blocks during the eight games he played in the seeding tournament. Although the Trail Blazers got solid production from their talented backcourt, they probably aren’t in position to win this game without Nurkic’s contributions.
With that in mind, I expect Nurkic to be a major factor when the Trail Blazers go up against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.