Doug Moe would have been beaming on the sidelines after this one. The Nuggets scored a bunch of points—historical amounts. And it shows that when they're clicking like this, just how truly dangerous they can be for the rest of the league.
The Nuggets beat the Blazers 157-103. The 54-point margin of victory is the largest in the history of the franchise. 157 points is the most in the NBA this season. The Nuggets started hot and never looked back.
They opened the game with a 41-point first quarter and repeated that with 41 in the second quarter. Per Chris Marlowe on the broadcast, it was the first time since 1990 that the Nuggets had so many points on the road in a first half. They weren't done.
The Nuggets scored 43 points in the third quarter, took all the starters out except for Julian Strawther for the fourth quarter, and still outscored the Blazers 32-18. Strawther has been on another level since entering the starting lineup, and he scored 19 in this one.
Seven Nuggets scored in double digits, led by Nikola Jokic with 32 points in only three quarters played. But it's the plus/minus numbers that really stick out.
Jokic was +40, Jamal Murray was +39, and Christian Braun was +39. But Strawther's number really sticks out, and he tied a franchise record in the process. Strawther went for an incredible +48 points.
The Nuggets are a dangerous bunch when they shoot like this
For the game, the Nuggets shot 57% from the field and 51% from three-point range. And it was the first game in NBA history that a team had 150+ points, 60+ rebounds, 40+ assists, and 20+ threes made. Simply incredible.
Who can hang with the Nuggets when they score like this and play a little defense? The Blazers shot just 41% from the floor and 30% from downtown. The Nuggets also generated 12 steals and pressured the Blazers into 18 turnovers.
It was a total dismantling, and it came at the perfect time for the Nuggets, who were coming off a gut-punch one-point loss in a late game on the road on a back-to-back. You couldn't have asked for a better response from the team.
There haven't been many times after a game lately where there wasn't a negative, an injury, or something to detract from a win. This game doesn't have any of those tagging along. This was a complete waxing of a team fighting for the final playoff spot. And it feels good.
The Nuggets reminded everyone how dangerous they are when they play like this. How dangerous can they be when they have the whole team back at full strength? We'll find out soon.