Suns center Jusuf Nurkic's 'surprised' reaction to game-winning FT vs. Mavericks
11/08/2024 11:49 PM
In what would be another incredible matchup between the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks headlined by stars such as Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, and Kyrie Irving, it was Jusuf Nurkic who played the role of the hero in the Suns’ 114-113 victory on Friday night. Nurkic hauled in a crucial offensive rebound following a missed floater from Royce O’Neale that would have given them the lead, and he took his time, pump-faking one time to bait out a foul from Daniel Gafford.
Usually, referees swallow their whistles on plays like this; they would much rather let the players decide the game instead of putting them to the foul line to give them an easier way of taking the lead or tying the game. This time around, the officials decided to reward the Suns, and even Nurkic himself was surprised at this turn of events.
“I was surprised they called it. It felt like the whole game, I was trying to get there, to the line. The more I was aggressive, the more I was being physical, the less I was to the line,” Nurkic said, per Duane Rankin of AZ Central.
"I was surprised they called it."
Jusuf Nurkic on Daniel Gafford foul call with 0.8 seconds left.
Nurkic hit game winning FT. #Sunspic.twitter.com/SMMBsZ3Z9A
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 9, 2024
The Suns’ center revealed that it was indeed a calculated move on his part to try and get Gafford in the air; the Mavericks center is one of the best shot-blockers in the league, and Nurkic was right in that he would be trying his best to deter a point-blank shot at the rim from going in. But there was enough time for Nurkic to draw a foul — even as plenty of fans would contend that the officials simply should have let that play go.
“I don’t exactly know how long I got, but I felt like there was a few seconds in. I was waiting for them to jump, I was trying to score, and I got fouled, which is amazing. I couldn’t believe that [the officials] was looking at it,” Nurkic added.
And with that, the Suns are off to a 7-1 start to the season — a stark contrast to how they began last season. They are looking like a new and improved team under the coaching of Mike Budenholzer, and Nurkic has now put together for himself a nice string of games.
Suns reign supreme in the clutch
Last season, it was infuriating to watch the Suns execute in crunch-time. Their offense would grind to a halt, with teams baiting them into playing one-on-one basketball and taking them out of their rhythm on both ends of the floor. But this season, they have been executing with grace, with Kevin Durant being largely to thank for this development.
Durant may not have been the one to deal with the decisive blow against the Mavericks on Friday night, but he was responsible for creating the two-on-one situation that eventually led to Jusuf Nurkic’s game-winning free throw.
The Suns moved to 7-0 in clutch games this season, as per NBA University on X (formerly Twitter) — a night-and-day improvement from their 20-21 record with a horrendous net rating of -11.6 in such games last season.
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