Jusuf Nurkic: Explodes for monster double-double Thursday

Even as he racked up five fouls, Nurkic equaled his season high in minutes while
turning in career-best scoring and rebounding totals. Nurkic became the first
NBA player to hit his scoring, rebounding, blocks and steal benchmarks since
Charles Barkley accomplished it for the Sixers back in November 1986, a
testament to the spectacular output Nurkic generated against a defenseless
Philadelphia frontcourt. In addition to his excellent contributions across the
rest of the stat sheet, the third-year big man has provided the Blazers with a
third legitimate offensive threat behind Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. He’s
notably taken double-digit shot attempts in six of the eight games he’s played
in a Portland uniform and posted double-digit scoring in all but one contest.