Rodions Kurucs looked very much like the inexperienced rookie he is on Friday.
He was worked over defensively early in the game by All-Star guard Kemba Walker, who negated Kurucs’ massive length advantage with some lightning-quick crossovers and jab steps to create space for himself.
Offensively, like most of his teammates, he did not have the touch, hitting just 2-of-6 overall and misfiring on all three of his deep attempts.
He had a terrific block on the much larger Cody Zeller and scored off a nice baseline cut, but his streak of double-doubles ended at two games in a largely ineffective performance.
Fifteen rebounds Wednesday, one Friday — so goes the roller-coaster season of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.
RHJ also struggled with his shot, missing a couple of point-blank attempts and missing on all three 3-point attempts.
His jump shot, particularly from behind the arc, is so odd looking — a spasming mishmash of flailing arms with a release that appears at times to be almost sideways instead of straight at the rim — that perhaps he should be the exception to coach Kenny Atkinson’s “if you’re open and set, take it” rule.
At the very least, the above-the-break 3 should be off-limits for RHJ.