Jusuf Nurkic fever invades Rip City
In this week’s podcast, we discuss the Blazers’ big win over the Nuggets and what’s wrong with Cleveland.
We woke Gonz in the Pacific Northwest to discuss his recent road trip to Denver and Portland and Tuesday night’s phenomenal Blazers’ win over the Nuggets. That may have been the death knell for Denver’s playoff hopes, which is unfortunate considering the Nuggets traded Jusuf Nurkic to those very same Blazers. Oops.
The Nurkic revival is worth considering. The Nuggets obviously had a glut of big men and they settled an awkward situation by choosing Nikola Jokic and dealing Nurkic to Denver. That’s understandable, but it blew up in Denver’s face when Nurkic started dealing in Rip City. What changed?
All of this leaves the Nuggets in a weird spot. Who are they and who do they want to be? The Blazers, meanwhile, are rolling and playoff chase Damian Lillard is the best Dame.
On the flipside of NBA life, what the hell happened to the Cleveland Cavaliers? Their defense is dreadful and the takes are hot. They seem to lie somewhere between the danger zone and everything is fine.
We get into all this on the week’s Drive & Kick, along with a discussion of Lonzo Ball.
- We’ve got all the Jameer Nelson love you could ever want from a couple of Philly guys. (Take it from Jameer: don’t eat the chicken fingers in Milwaukee.)
- The Emmanuel Mudiay conundrum, however, is perplexing.
- Portland’s turnaround is stunning, but where does this leave the Blazers?
- The city of Portland is awesome, by the way. It’s high on Flanns’ list of top NBA running cities.
- The Celtics have been hot, but this is about Cleveland. The track record suggests this all a blip on their radar, but these are some serious blips.
- Neither of us think they can ultimately get Cleveland without some help, but the C’s really need to do some damage in the playoffs.
- We finish up with some Lonzo Ball talk.
- (Apologies for the weird blips. Technology was not our friend on this one.)
