Jusuf Nurkic doesn't understand. The pivot of Suns had a huge match against the Thunder, where he imposed his muscles and his presence in the paint, with 31 rebounds! But it was another number in his stat line that caught his attention: his free throws. For what ? Because he ends with a 0/0…
With so many contacts, battles under the circle and in such a physical encounter, not having obtained a single attempt remains an enigma for him.
“I try to do my best, but when you get 13 offensive rebounds and 16 shots and you don’t have any free throws, it’s weird,” comments the former Portland pivot. “I'm giving it my all and I feel like I get as many fouls as other players in the league. I would have liked at least one free throw. Not even one, then? It's not the first time and it won't be the last unfortunately. »
Frank Vogel thinks of Kevin Durant. The Phoenix star was targeted by the Thunder defense, with two-man catches and a lot of aggression. “They made mistakes on him all evening”estimates the coach. “We took three, four or five balls from his hands, and as soon as he tried to free himself, we held him back. I would like the league to look at this closely. »
Too many lost balls
With 18 free throws, Arizona players had three more attempts than the Thunder and both teams committed 15 fouls each. The intensity was high on the Oklahoma City side and the Suns were physically shaken, especially in the last quarter, with six possessions wasted in the last eight minutes.
“Lost balloons are where it starts. We have had this concern since the start of the season. Opposite, it is the team which causes the most lost balls and we did not manage the pressure well. It cost us dearly”confirms the Phoenix coach in the face of his troops' 22 lost balls. “More lost balls… 22, right? »continues Jusuf Nurkic. “We all agree that this needs to change. »
This therefore spoils the Bosnian's franchise and personal record. His 31 rebounds are even the highest total in the NBA since Kevin Love, also 31 rebounds, and his game against the Knicks on November 12, 2010.
” It's incredible. A 31-rebound night in NBA history is crazy. This is the record for the Suns. He was monstrous in defense”Judge Frank Vogel. “I saw on the giant screen that I was at 28”confirms Jusuf Nurkic when asked if he knew he was so prolific. “But that doesn’t really matter. It's cool, but we lost. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Kevin Durant | 53 | 37.2 | 53.0 | 42.0 | 85.3 | 0.6 | 6.1 | 6.7 | 5.6 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 27.9 |
| Devin Booker | 50 | 35.8 | 49.4 | 37.9 | 88.0 | 0.7 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 6.8 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 27.5 |
| Bradley Beal | 31 | 32.2 | 49.5 | 36.8 | 77.5 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 17.8 |
| Grayson Allen | 54 | 33.3 | 49.5 | 46.7 | 88.8 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 12.7 |
| Eric Gordon | 49 | 29.8 | 45.7 | 38.9 | 81.5 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 12.5 |
| Jusuf Nurkic | 56 | 27.1 | 51.6 | 24.7 | 67.0 | 2.6 | 7.7 | 10.4 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 11.8 |
| Royce O'neale | 8 | 26.6 | 41.2 | 40.4 | 66.7 | 0.9 | 5.8 | 6.6 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 10.4 |
| Drew Eubanks | 54 | 15.9 | 61.8 | 100.0 | 74.3 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 5.4 |
| Bowl Bowl | 22 | 11.1 | 60.5 | 30.8 | 70.0 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 5.4 |
| Chimezie Metu | 37 | 12.1 | 50.8 | 29.4 | 88.4 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 5.0 |
| Jordan Goodwin | 40 | 14.0 | 38.9 | 28.8 | 86.2 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 5.0 |
| Josh Okogie | 54 | 17.1 | 41.7 | 29.7 | 74.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 4.9 |
| Keita Bates Diop | 39 | 15.3 | 42.7 | 31.3 | 72.2 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 4.5 |
| Nassir Little | 34 | 12.5 | 45.8 | 31.7 | 85.0 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 3.9 |
| Yuta Watanabe | 29 | 13.2 | 36.1 | 32.0 | 66.7 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 3.6 |
| Saben Lee | 17 | 7.6 | 41.7 | 10.0 | 74.3 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 3.4 |
| Thaddeus Young | 2 | 14.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| Udoka Azubuike | 14 | 7.7 | 72.7 | 0.0 | 27.3 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 2.5 |
| David Roddy | 4 | 3.3 | 66.7 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| Theo Maledon | 4 | 3.3 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 |
