![]() Denver wanted to run against the Blazers. He played defense, also scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting, grabbed 3 offensive rebounds, dished 3 assists, and snagged 3 steals. If anyone doesn’t value what Josh Hart brings to this team, go back and watch him get busy tonight. These became a pebble in their shoe as they tried to outscore the Blazers. Nowhere did that turn up more than the turnovers the Blazers forced the Nuggets into. It was as energetic of a defensive effort as we’ve seen since the start of the season. Multiple hands were in the vicinity of the ball all night, simply due to activity. It almost seemed like Portland defenders had three arms. The Blazers were active on help defense, making great reads and hustling to close the floor after Denver bowled them over with an initial run to start the game. It looked like fatigue caught up to him in the fourth, but up until then, Grant was gold. Foul trouble muted his evening modestly, but Portland’s bundle of energy finished with 18 points despite shooting 6-15 from the field, 2-7 from the arc. He also picked his spots brilliantly on offense, stroking threes and hitting soft jumpers inside. He skipped over waves and wake, cutting everywhere on defense, forcing turnovers, bothering shooters, and making a damn nuisance of himself. If Jokic was a supertanker in the lane against the Blazers, Jerami Grant was a Coast Guard cutter against Denver. For all the glittery talents in the NBA, watching a guy play classic basketball still holds its charms. From that captain’s perch he could shoot or pass, the classic counter to that defensive scheme. When the Blazers threw a zone to try and protect the inside better, Jokic went to the middle of the floor, higher in the key. Jusuf Nurkic was able to stay with him a little, but nobody else came close. He played with his back to the basket, spinning, scoring, and drawing fouls against single Portland defenders. But how he put up his numbers proved more important. You knew Nikola Jokic wasn’t going to put up another triple-single effort against the Blazers like he did in their first meeting in October. Denver finished with 6 fast break points, but an enormous 64 in the paint. Portland did an excellent job in transition-foiling half of their opponent’s plan-but never quite shored up the inside. The game normalized as the action progressed, in part thanks to Portland’s rebounding prowess (see below). Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant drew quick sets of fouls. The Blazers got caught back on their heels a little. Or, for that matter, shot-blockers to bother them. ![]() They dared Portland’s perimeter players to stay in front of them. Their preferred attack involved dribblers slicing down the lane. The Nuggets announced from the get-go that they planned to beat Portland’s defense by not letting it set up. After that, here are other observations from the evening. You can read our quarter-by-quarter recap here. If you missed the game, you missed a great one. Nikola Jokic was as impressive as Lillard with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. But a huge three from Jamal Murray ended up robbing Portland of their victory celebration, putting Denver ahead 121-120 when the final horn sounded. The Portland Trail Blazers came close to beating Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night, riding 40 points from Damian Lillard to a near-win.
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