It was fun while it lasted, but the Nuggets’ win streak came to an end in Portland.
It was an ugly game from both sides, but the Trail Blazers were able to prevail over the Nuggets in the end. Thanks to a 15 point, 7 assists and 4 rebounds performance from Damian Lillard, Denver was just gassed by division rival Portland.
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Denver had a hard time getting anything going defensively as they were only able to score 82 points on the night. Nikola Jokic only had 6 points on 22.2% shooting and had 3 assists to go along with 7 rebounds.
Denver’s other star, Paul Millsap shared most of the scoring load as he finished with 18 points which tied the team high along with Jamal Murray. Denver really missed Gary Harris this game as C.J. McCollum was able to score a very efficient and team high,17 points. If Harris was healthy in this game, it would have forced McCollum into some tighter situations.
Denver’s defense also took a step back as they only had 2 blocks in total for the entire game.2 blocks!? Out of the entire game!? This aspect must improve going forward and it will come back to haunt them if they do not remedy this situation now.
Many players on the Nuggets side in this game were lost and looked sluggish from the start. Let’s hope this doesn’t become a recurring theme, otherwise the season will be in jeopardy. It showed on the box score as well. As a team, Portland had a box plus/minus of +17 which is a stark contrast from the -17 Denver posted. It was just not the Nuggets night as the Blazers seemed to be catching lucky break after lucky break.
Well, there is at least faith with this Nuggets squad that they will be back and look to capitalize and learn from their mistakes.