Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Jusuf Nurkic compares Keyonte George to Damian Lillard, praising his game understanding.
- George impressed with 31 points against the Celtics showcasing his improved performance.
- George's scoring, assists, and free-throw attempts have significantly increased this season.
BOSTON — Jusuf Nurkic has fresh eyes on the Utah Jazz's rebuild. That can bring some fresh perspective.
One thing — or one player — has stood out to the veteran center, and that's Keyonte George.
"I told him he's my favorite player so far," Nurkic said. "Literally, like he's reminding me so much of Dame, in a way. Just the way he works, the way he understands the game, and the way he wants to be better."
Dame, of course, would be Damian Lillard — the future Hall of Famer and Nurkic's longtime teammate in Portland.
That is some high praise. And, frankly, George looked the part on Monday, scoring 31 points on 9-of-16 shooting and four assists in the Jazz's win over the Celtics.
But that was far from a one-off performance. George has popped in the first seven games of the year. He is averaging 23.1 points, 8.8 assists on a career-high 44% shooting.
His assists are way up. His scoring is way up. His 2-point shooting is way up. His free-throw rate is way up.
And those foul shots might just paint the tail of the new George the best.
He's averaging 9.6 free throw attempts per game — more than double what he averaged last season. Here's the kicker, though: He's not actually trying to get to the line.
In his first two seasons, he hunted for contact — throwing his weight into defenders, trying to grift officials into fouls. Sure, there were times it worked, but it often resulted in off-balanced runners, with him starting at officials, flummoxed when no whistle was blown.
This year, he's simply trying to score, driving in straight lines and forcing defenders to react to him.
"It's funny, he's getting to the free-throw line more and baiting for fouls less, because he's just playing in straight lines," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "He's not fishing for them as much as he was in the past, and so it's been interesting for him to get the payoff."
He's doing the right things and being rewarded. That's been the story of George's early-season breakout.
And it was those straight-line drives that turned the tide for the Jazz in Boston. Utah has relied on off-ball actions and screens to create advantages on offense. The Celtics' switching defense swallowed those up, leading to the Jazz having just 36 points at halftime.
Enter George.
"Keyonte, in the second half, responded and really put a lot of pressure on the rim, playing downhill," Hardy said.
The Jazz scored 38 points in the third quarter as George unlocked Utah's offense by driving to the rim and making reads at the elbow.
The latter can be traced back to a film session with George and Hardy.
As Hardy and George broke down plays together one day, the Jazz coach used an analogy that stuck with the young guard. Hardy compared the elbow to a quarterback sitting in a pocket.
"There's so much chaos going around it, but if he stays in the pocket, he's gonna be there to make the right read," George said. "Honestly, the way he just broke that down and made it simple for me. I just feel like it took my game to a whole other level."
Add it to a growing list of reasons why George has looked like a new player this year.
"It's incredible," said Kyle Filipowski. "I knew Keyonte was super good since high school, and to see him now kind of blossoming this year, it's not a surprise to me. It's super important for this team, and you know how good we're going to be in the future."
Dame? Maybe not yet.
But the signs are hard to miss.
"The way he's playing so far this year, I love it," Nurkic said. "I keep trying to encourage him to be more aggressive. We need him. We need him when he scores the ball. We need him to be aggressive at the rim. Coach wants him to be aggressive downhill, too. Sometimes we look too passive, like trying to play too much off-ball. He played great, gave us a chance to win the game."
