Nurkic wishes Nuggets 'a happy summer' after beating former team

Redemption was a six-letter word on Tuesday night at the Moda Center, and it was spelled N-u-r-k-i-c.

Squaring off against his old team for the first time since he was shipped away prior to the trade deadline, Portland Trail Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic put a hurting on the Denver Nuggets with a career-high 33 points.

Related: Nurkic lifts Blazers over Nuggets in battle for 8th

After his remarkable performance, which helped push Denver further from the eighth and final playoff seed in the Western Conference, Nurkic had some parting words for his former teammates.

"You know when I came here and I said we would be a playoff team. So we wanted to be up there. Now we're up there. And I wish those guys (Nuggets) a happy summer," Nurkic said to conclude his postgame interview, despite being asked an unrelated question.

At 36-38, the Blazers - who are in the midst of a four-game winning streak - have a one-game lead over the Nuggets, as well as the tiebreaker in the standings via a 3-1 season-series win.

Portland and Denver each have eight games remaining.