The Phoenix Suns are set to go against the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden tonight. The highly anticipated game between the chart toppers in the east and the number seven team in the west is going to be a challenge for the latter. The Suns’ 29-year-old center Jusuf Nurkic will be the player to watch out for as he’d like to settle some scores with the rivals.
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Nurkic has played 17 games against the Celtics in his career, and he averages 12.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block with a field goal percentage of 54. Nurkic has had four double-doubles against the Celtics, and he has scored 15+ points on five different occasions with his personal best at 29 points a game.
The Phoenix franchise is his third team in a 10-year-long career so far. Before the Suns, he also played for the Denver Nuggets from 2014-2017 and the Portland Trail Blazers from 2017-2023. While playing for the Nuggets, he faced the Celtics in five games where he averaged 6.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, 1 assist, and 0.6 steals, per game.
He also shot 40% from the field while playing 14.5 minutes per game. His numbers in the Portland jersey are surely an upgrade from his time with the Nuggets. With the Blazers he faced the Celtics in 11 games, averaging 15.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks, per game while shooting 55.5% from the field.
After he arrived in Phoenix, Nurkic has only faced the Celtics once where he scored 11.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block while shooting 83.3% from the field. Nurkic’s development as a player on the defensive end is visible as he has progressed in his career with different teams.
In this season, for the Suns, he is averaging 11.6 points and 10.8 rebounds while his FG% is at a solid 52.3. The next game could be an opportunity for Nurkic to build on his steadily improving game.
Jusuf Nurkic’s losing record could be a problem for him
While we can see Nurkic’s growth as a player over the years, his overall team performance has been poor against the Celtics. With the three teams that he has represented in the league, Nurkic is 5-12 against the Boston rivals. In fact, even if we look at his tenure with the three franchises separately, Nurkic has a losing record.
During his time with the Nuggets, in five games, he has a 1-4 record. With the Blazers, his record gets slightly better but is still on the losing side with 4-7.
Whereas in the only game he has played against the Celtics as a Suns center, his team lost that game 107-117. If the Suns manage to beat the Celtics in tonight’s game, that’d balance Nurkic’s record to 1-1, which would be the best record he has had against the Celtics in his career.
