Denver Nuggets vs Portland Trail Blazers: 10 Note-Worthy Takeaways
By Sam Mast
#1- Denver looked shaky offensively in the first, but quickly turned that around in the second half.
Denver didn’t look terrible in the first quarter, but the Trailblazers looked great. It would be easy to say that Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum were ‘taking-over’, but that wasn’t the case.
The Nuggets showed nice offense lead by Will Barton, but lackluster defense and sloppy play on multiple possessions. The Nuggets collapsed the paint as Lillard and McCollum slashed to the hoop, leading to wide open three pointers for Al-Fariq Aminu and Moe Harkless. At one point in the first, Portland was 7-9 from behind-the-arc. That ended with the Nuggets being outscored 34-26 in the first.
The second was a different story. The Nuggets really started to settle in defensively, while also pushing the pace offensively.
Denver’s 8 steals in the first half kept them changed the tide of the game. Jamal Murray led the floor with on a couple fast breaks as the Nuggets outscored the Blazers 33-18 in the second.
Leading 59-52 going into the second half, Here are a couple key stats:
- Eight steals in the half and only six turnovers helped the Nuggets turn the game around. (Compared to the Blazers 3 ST and 10 TO)
- The Nuggets shot 47.8% from the field on 20-41. The Blazers shot 38.6%, 17-44.
- The Nuggets got to the free throw line a whopping 19 times in the first half, led by Jusuf Nurkic’s 9-12 in the first.
- The Blazers were kept afloat by their 10/16 (62.5%) from behind the arc, and also by leading on the boards 27-23.