Nik Stauskas was traded in February for Rodney Hood, who then became a necessary and integral part of the Western Conference Finals playoff push for the Portland Trail Blazers. But early in the season, Stauskas looked like a valuable shooter for a team that desperately needed 3-point accuracy.

In fact, in the very first game of the year the former No. 8 overall pick scored a whopping 24 points in just 27 minutes of play, going 5-of-8 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Stauskas was particularly abusive of Josh Hart, who he faced in 27% of his possessions. Portland's backup gunner scored 18 points against Hart, shooting 100% from the field against the former Lakers guard.

Eventually L.A. caught on to Stauskas' hot hand, and started to pay more attention to him as he ran, JJ Redick style, through screens in Portland's halfcourt offense. Stauskas identified this early, and made it a point to use his gravity and passing ability to share the ball.

When the Lakers jumped on Stauskas early, it allowed guys like Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins, and CJ McCollum to benefit.

Check out the second video in our mini-series produced this summer where we wind back the clock and dissect some of the best moments of the magical 2018-19 Blazers season.

Watch the full video breakdown to see why Portland fans were so excited about Sauce Castillo in Game 1, and how he stole LeBron's thunder.