Nurk doesn't seem to be too affected by it. Listen to you soccer moms...
Trail Blazers' Jusuf Nurkic downplays 'drama' after sitting at crunch time
TUALATIN --
Jusuf Nurkic did his best to end any speculation that there could be drama building about his crunch time role, dealing with the media or his former team on Sunday afternoon.
"No drama, man," The
Portland Trail Blazers' center said in what would be a theme to his post-practice interview. "It's all about the (next) game."
In each of the Portland Trail Blazers' last two games, backup center Ed Davis has earned the fourth quarter minutes over Nurkic, finishing out close losses to Memphis and Brooklyn. Nurkic said he spoke with Blazers coach Terry Stotts and there is no brewing conflict between Portland's young center and the head coach.
"I respect coach's decision," said Nurkic, who scored 21 points against Brooklyn despite only playing for 53 seconds in the fourth quarter. "And to be honest, I never have a better coach than Stotts. So, there's (not) anything wrong."
Nurkic certainly would like to close out games on the court, but he isn't questioning any coaching decisions.
"Everybody want to be out there," he said. "There is not one player on our team that don't want to be in a close game and finish the game. Definitely, I want to be out there. But, like I said, there is not wrong play (by) coach. It's his decision and I need to respect that and I respect that."
"Nurk wants to play well, but he wants us to win," Stotts added. "When I talked to him he was more upset that we lost the game (against Brooklyn), than about him not playing in the fourth quarter. We're at a stage, we've lost two in a row, just winning the game is the most important thing for everybody."
Stotts said he played Davis over Nurkic in the last two games for different reasons. Against Memphis, Nurkic struggled to find his offensive rhythm while dealing with foul trouble. Against Brooklyn, Davis helped Portland crawl out of an early deficit in the fourth quarter and Stotts chose to roll with his backup center.
"Honestly, the game against Brooklyn we were down seven and I went with Ed and we went from down seven to up five," Stotts said. "With five minutes to go I decided to stay with Ed because we had made a nice run with him in the game. It wasn't so much about Nurk."
Following the 101-97 loss to Brooklyn on Friday, Nurkic left the locker room before talking with reporters, leading to speculation about his frustration. Nurkic explained on Sunday that he wasn't intentionally skipping out on interviews, but rather heading across the hall to receive treatment on his sore lower back.
"Basically, I was in the treatment room," Nurkic said. "But usually I need to do a better job with you guys (the media) and wait no matter what. My back was hurting so I was going to the treatment room."
True to his no drama theme on Sunday, Nurkic said his back issue isn't a concern and then down played the revenge factor in facing Denver.
If there was a chance for him to bounce back after two frustrating results, playing against his former team might be the perfect opportunity. In his first game against his former team last March, Nurkic was brilliant,
lighting up Denver for 33 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
It was the best performance of his career and he followed it by wishing the Nuggets a "happy summer" in an on-court interview following his dominant game, which helped Portland secure a playoff spot. But on Sunday, he insisted there is no lingering revenge factor and that he just wants to help the Blazers get an important win against a Northwest Division opponent.
"I'm not worried about them," Nurkic said. "I'm not worried about anything in this league. I'm worried about us. This is my team. I need to be better with a lot of stuff, a lot of stuff I can improve with offense and defense. I'm trying to do my best and our team is looking forward to any game. This is our game to show what we can do."
