As the Portland Trail Blazers won their fifth-straight game to help solidify their playoff position with Sunday's 115-111 victory over the Utah Jazz, it became hard to imagine how the team's fortunes would've played out without the recent emergence of forward Maurice Harkless.
Harkless, a regular in head coach Terry Stotts' rotation in the first three months of the season, saw his minutes diminish in late January including his first "DNPs" on the stat sheet. Stotts cited increased minutes for the dynamic play of Gerald Henderson on the wing as the reason for Harkless' limited minutes.
But an ankle injury to starting power forward Noah Vonleh in the Blazers' road win versus the Houston Rockets on February 6 thrust Harkless back into Stotts' frontcourt plan as the 22-year-old St. John's product scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench in the victory. Over his last five games, Harkless is averaging 14.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while providing flexibility in guarding opposing power fowards on the defensive end.
The decreased role last month lit a fire in Harkless, and understandably so. Now, the Blazers are reaping the reward.
"Now when I’m out there, I’m not gonna give them any reason to take me out of the game," Harkless told reporters after his 17 points and seven rebounds versus the Jazz Sunday night. "Just play hard on both ends of the floor; just try to make plays, make things happen, change the game."
He added: "I think I’m just out there playing now. Getting minutes, getting time: it’s consistent. When you start getting consistent minutes, you start to play more consistent."
A young player, Harkless could've thrown in the towel after having his role reduced. Instead, he kept his head up and kept working. His teammates noticed, and when the opportunity came, Harkless seized it.
"I’ve been in this league long enough to know that’s just how it goes sometimes," said the fourth-year pro. "It’s up and down. I just had to keep working, I knew it would turn around eventually and it did. I’ve just gotta keep going out there and just playing every night."
"He’s been huge," point guard Damian Lillard complimented Harkless. "A guy that isn’t playing, and he stays with it; he shows up every day and continues to put his work in. The opportunity comes back unexpected, somebody goes down and because he kept himself ready — he didn’t pout about it — he was able to come back and impact the game. Now, he’s changing every game for us. Every time he gets out there, he’s getting us extra possessions. He’s getting to the line. He’s able to match-up with 4s that can pick-and-pop and handle the ball. It allows us to get out and play faster.
"He’s somebody who can dribble the ball, he can run the court, make shots, he’s athletic. He’s been great for us."
With playoffs in sight and 30+ point wins over last season's Eastern and Western Conference champions, the sky is the limit right now for a Blazers squad projected by oddsmakers in the summer to win 26 games in 2015-16. It's unclear where the season -- or postseason -- will take Portland, but it's becoming more and more likely Maurice Harkless will be a major contributor in the Blazers' plans.