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By Patrick Holleron
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – When Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkić was asked in his postgame press conference if he had a certain swagger heading into a recent win over the Miami Heat, his response was a beautiful twist.

“No, probably the opposite,” Nurkić said. “I was sore, but I feel like the coaches did a great job of putting me in position to have good looks. It’s on me how many I will take. I think they want me to take even more threes and more shots.”

In his 10th NBA season (second with the Suns), Nurkić has undergone an offensive evolution, shooting more 3-pointers than ever before with coach Mike Budenholzer at the helm.

Under former coach Frank Vogel, the Suns had the NBA’s 10th-best overall offense and ranked fifth in 3-point shooting percentage during the 2023-24 regular season. Despite these encouraging numbers, the team ranked 20th in 3-pointers made and 25th in treys attempted.

This was one of the reasons Budenholzer was brought in to replace Vogel. In past stints with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks, his teams were known for prolific 3-point shooting, particularly at the center position with the likes of Al Horford and Brook Lopez.

This required Nurkić, never known for his 3-point shooting prowess, to develop into a “stretch-five” player. The veteran center has only shot above 36% from 3-point range twice in his career, when he was a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.

“I have a small sample of my 3-point shooting ability from when I was in Portland,” Nurkić said. “I knocked some threes down and teams were respecting and game planning for that.”

Throughout the summer, Nurkić made an increased effort to improve his shooting ability. His sharpened shooting didn’t appear in the first seven games, as he made four shots from long range on 19 attempts.

The extra time spent in the offseason is blooming now, as Nurkić is shooting a blistering 50% (5-for-10) from beyond the arc in Phoenix’s last four games, before sitting out Wednesday’s 120-112 win over Utah with an ankle injury.

“He put a lot of time and effort into working on his shooting,” Budenholzer said. “He’s been able to play around the 3-point line and let it fly with confidence. He’s got an ability to finish around the basket and do things down there, but now he’s expanding his game. Him giving us another weapon with the ability to get threes up is helpful.”

On. Nov. 6, against the Heat specifically, Nurkić had his best game of the season, finishing with 20 points, 18 rebounds and a perfect 3-for-3 from long-range. To cap it off, Nurkić’s last 3-point attempt in that game was closer to the logo than the 3-point line.

“The messages I’ve been hearing from fans is it’s a make-or-miss league,” Suns teammate Kevin Durant said. “And that relies on your hard work as an individual, the time you put in on your craft, and Nurk has been in there every day working on his craft.”

Regardless of it being a small sample size, this version of Nurkić appears to be staying and should be a key cog to the Suns’ success throughout the rest of the season.

“There will be times when he’s trying to find his rhythm because he’s playing in a new system,” Durant said. “I see him getting more and more comfortable with that shot. He made three swishes tonight, it wasn’t rattling. The more comfortable and confident he gets in knocking down that shot, the more dangerous we’ll become as a team.”

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