Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic over-the-backboard toss defies physics

 

The Portland Trail Blazers have plenty of guys in their roster who are capable of magic with the basketball on any given night. Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons always dazzle the crowd with their impressive imagination, sublime ball-handling, and incredible shot-making. But on Wednesday night, it was Jusuf Nurkic’s turn to turn some heads after a ridiculous layup attempt that seemed to threaten everything we know about gravity and projectile behavior.

With a little less than eight minutes left in the first quarter, the Blazers executed a play to perfection, with Lillard connecting with Nurkic on a bullet pass. Charles Bassey, the San Antonio Spurs’ defender, was caught out of position as the Bosnian beast went up for a layup. Bassey ended up fouling Nurkic, who just hoisted up a wild shot through contact, a finger roll that went over the backboard and back as it nestled safely on top of the glass.

The Blazers and Spurs on the court couldn’t help but be amused by the ball’s refusal to come back down. Even Jerami Grant was beckoning the ball to restore the laws of physics back to its regular operating procedure. Alas, the ball just wouldn’t fall, so Keldon Johnson took the law of inertia into his own hands and became the external force that acted upon an object to cause it to move.

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