I wonder how mad Tom Thibodeau was as he watched Karl-Anthony Towns get victimized again and again by the Damian Lillard- Jusuf Nurkic pick-and-roll for the first 30 minutes of the game. What good is being a defensive guru if your players can’t stop the most used play in basketball?
The Blazers got away from that dominating play later in the game, probably because the Timberwolves made some adjustments or something, I don’t know. Do I look like the kind of guy who can tell when defenses make adjustments? I can barely watch three-pointers go in without getting confused about which team was shooting.
Nurkic only ended up with 20, not very many after his hot start, but the real accomplishment was that he only had 2 turnovers. Turnovers are basically the bane of his existence right now. Among players who play real minutes, his turnovers per 36 are 8th worst in the league. He’s not DeMarcus Cousins-level yet, and I don’t think anyone can be, but it’s still not good. Fewer ill-advised pocket passes are in order; I think every team in the league has figured that stuff out thanks to He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.