Denver Nuggets at Blazers: Who could be the X factor?
By Mathew Huff
The Denver Nuggets will be in for a test when they travel to Portland.
The Denver Nuggets are coming off a convincing 32 points walloping over the Los Angeles Lakers. However, they cannot get overconfident.
They will travel to Portland where take on the division rival Trail Blazers. A division rival who happens to be in the thick of the Western Conference playoff picture right now, just like the Denver Nuggets.
Portland currently sits at fifth in the West standings with the Nuggets sitting at third.
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With this in mind, which player could be the X factor who could really influence the game? That would be none other than the Blazers star shooting guard, CJ McCollum.
With Gary Harris out nursing an injury, the door is open for CJ to have a big scoring outing. Yes, Torrey Craig is a defensive specialist, but guarding a solidified star on the perimeter is quite different from guarding guys like Brandon Ingram and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
While many like to focus the attention on star point guard, Damian Lillard, and rightfully so, his back court mate is an underappreciated scorer who can get hot in a second. With him having the advantage in this game, he could very well directly influence the outcome of the game.
Keep in mind, he is averaging 21.1 points per game so far this season.
It will be imperative for Denver to be ready on the help defense and even devise some defensive schemes to force the ball out of McCollum’s hands forcing the role players for the Trail Blazers to step up and beat them.
The Trail Blazers have became a heated rival for the Nuggets in the past two years and CJ McCollum’s star studded play has had a lot to do with this fact.
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He will be the X factor out of both teams come November 30. It will be up to the Nuggets’ defense to be ready.