The Denver Nuggets showed up in Portland for a game against the Trail Blazers with the division, and barely scored a win in a battle that sometimes felt like a playoff atmosphere. The Nuggets’ forwards all scored double figures under Nikola Jokic, who helped 25 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists and a clutch performance in the languishing minutes of the game, which helped Denver win a potential Norman Powell victory to repel.
Denver and Portland went back and forth throughout the game, but the Nuggets nearly pulled the Blazers away on several occasions. What comes to mind most is the third and early fourth term. Denver took the lead at halftime, but completely checked out to start third when Portland ran 18-2 at one point. Somehow the bankroll consisting of PJ Dozier, Shaq Harrison, Austin Rivers, JaMychal Green and Paul Millsap stopped the bleeding and kept Denver in it. The beginners did not even return until there were just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter, just in time for Jokic to do Jokic things and retain the win.
The individual performances were … interesting. Michael Porter Jr. had a perfect first quarter, and he shot 8-for-8 and put up 17 points in what looked like would be a big night for him. Still, he got no shots in the second quarter and missed the remaining four shots he took in the game. In the third quarter, he is asked for a blatant offense for kicking out a three-point attempt, a ridiculous call, given how many star players in the NBA today throw for free, yet technically a correct call. MPJ is as good as he gets, but it really looked like the Nuggets strayed from it after the first quarter, which is really unfortunate because he wasn’t on fire.
The aforementioned banking unit had good and bad moments. The first time in the second quarter was terrible and raised questions as to why Malone would not put JaVale McGee in the center when Portland play big in the second unit with Kanter. However, this unit virtually saved the game in the third and fourth series. Dozier-Harrison-Rivers was a fairly defensive unit and it was good to see Austin make an immediate impact for Denver.
In the end, the Nuggets did just enough not to let Dame Time take over in the fourth. Lillard finished with 22 points, but was just 2-for-6 in the fourth quarter. It was not pretty, but a win is a win, and when it’s over Jusuf Nurkic, it’s always sweet.