Evan Turner is stepping up for the Trail Blazers

Evan Turner is stepping up for the Trail Blazers by Jake Walker

After struggling with injuries early in the season, Maurice Harkless has quietly stepped up his game in December.

Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless struggled with a knee injury early in the season. As a result, he missed almost a month and returned in late November.

However, Harkless’s return messed up the Blazers rotation. Jake Layman had been starting all season long, and the Blazers had been very successful with him in the lineup. But Terry Stotts decided to remove Layman from the entire rotation and start Harkless.

Now, it makes sense for Stotts to start Harkless if he believes he is the better player, but giving zero minutes to Layman is inexcusable.

To make matters worse, Harkless did not play well at all after returning. He looked disinterested at times and could not get a shot to fall. In the 5 November games he appeared in, Harkless shot 27.8% from the field and did not make one three.

Benching Layman was never Harkless’s fault, that was Stotts decision to make, but things were clearly not going well for Harkless on the court.

Enter December, Harkless is shooting 57.4% from the field and 50% from three this month.

No, he is not taking over games on offense, but he is doing an exceptional job in his role. Harkless is keeping opposing defenses honest and along with several other players this month providing some desperately needed balance to this offense.

His 13 points against the Clippers on 5-7 shooting made the difference in that close victory.

More importantly, Harkless appears to be playing with more energy, which is a great sign. Perhaps, this hot streak has helped his confidence. This monster dunk is evidence of that newfound confidence.

When players like Harkless and Seth Curry step up, the Blazers are a much better team.

Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic cannot do it alone, and lately, they have not had to.