Kevin Durant opens up about stunning Jusuf Nurkic performance vs. Heat

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Throughout the Phoenix Suns’ 115-112 win against the Miami Heat, center Jusuf Nurkic made his presence known on both ends, and Kevin Durant was all for it. From crashing the boards to hitting a barrage of three-pointers, Nurkic proved to be an X-factor in the Wednesday win. Following the game, Durant spoke to reporters about how Nurkic has been patient with his opportunities to dominate.

"I mean, just understand that we got his back, understand that there are going to be nights that aren't your nights,” Durant said. “There will be times when it is your night, like tonight. So, all of us throughout the team understand that we are playing a team game. We play off of each other and open it up for everybody. So, your opportunities may come one game, it may not be there the next game, but that’s just a part of basketball in the season. You have to be ready to play at all times."

Nurkic’s preseason injury limited the Suns’ continuity. While rookie Oso Ighodaro was getting quality reps with the starters, Nurkic had to play catch-up. Since newly acquired point guard Tyus Jones signed with the Suns, it’s been a different offensive system. He’s been establishing the flow, but the chemistry between him and Nurkic is still developing.

Also, the Bosnia and Herzegovina native established a decent chunk of the offense last season. While head coach Mike Budenholzer has used him on the post to initiate a specific play, it hasn’t been as frequent. With a new offensive system and coaching philosophy, Nurkic’s performances have been fickle to open the year.

Jusuf Nurkic can maintain his confident 3-point shot for the Suns

So far, he’s averaging 10.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. Luckily, that’s able to happen when there are three top scorers on the team; Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Durant. However, he’s averaging 3.5 turnovers per game, the highest mark of his career. Despite Suns fans being overreactive about Nurkic’s flaws, he’s been what Phoenix needs. Someone to crash the boards and be a big body in the paint, as well as a threat from three-point land.

Against the Heat, the Phoenix big man knocked down a trey of three-pointers. One of which was on a broken play with the shot clock winding down. The efficient performance left fans in pure elation. Budenholzer elaborated on how the work beyond the arc is paying off for Nurkic.

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“He’s been working on it all summer,” Budenholzer said. “We’ve had good conversations about him being able to play around the three-point line shooting it with confidence and letting it fly. He’s put a lot of time and effort in, so he has the ability to finish around the basket and do things there. As we talked about, with expanding his game, he's giving us another weapon, another option, another ability to get threes up, so it is helpful."

Despite Nurkic taking 1.2 threes per game last season, it’s been a different story this year. He’s taking 2.8 threes, the most of his career. While he’s knocking down 31.8% of those looks, the confidence is rising. Teams are sagging off of him on screens and allowing him to shoot wide-open threes. For the Suns center, his performance doesn’t come as a surprise. It’s the opposite.

“I feel like I have the same shots in the same games,” Nurkic said. “The coaches put me in a great position to have those looks. I feel like I just made them this game more, I guess. But I feel like every game I am going to have those shots, especially with the players we have and the spacing that we have, like five-out. I just need to take my time knocking down the shot. So, I think overall, it doesn’t change."

His spacing and continued physical presence inside made life difficult for Miami. It forced them to respect Nurkic’s scoring ability, even with the Big 3 on the floor. Although a perfect shooting night from three isn’t always going to happen, Wednesday’s game proved the potential. As the Suns take on the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, Nurkic could have an expanded role once again if his confidence remains alive and true.

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