The Portland Trail Blazers are facing off against the Denver Nuggets in the second game of a four game road trip. Portland is coming into the contest off of a win over the Utah Jazz to begin the trip. On the other side, Denver has earned two straight wins over the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns on the road, and are returning home for the first game of a brief two-game home stand.
What you Need to Know
Portland Trail Blazers (4-1) at Denver Nuggets – (3-2) Monday, Nov. 2 – 6:00pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or
cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network
How to stream: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
How to listen: Trail Blazers Audio Network
Trail Blazers Injuries: Shaedon Sharpe, Ja Morant (out)
Nuggets injuries: Julian Strawther, Spencer Jones, Alpha Diallo (out)
Kit: The Blazers will take the floor in its Statement Edition uniform.
Storylines
Three Point Shooting
Just like last season, Portland sits near the top of the league in three-pointers made per game. They currently rank 2nd in the NBA with 15.8 made threes per contest. However, unlike last season, they’re doing it relatively efficiently. The 35.3% mark from behind the arc sits tied for 12th in the NBA. With the volume the Blazers shoot, sitting just above league average from distance is a recipe for scoring in bunches. If they can continue to shoot at that clip, their offense will continue to be the dynamic scoring threat that we’ve seen so far this season.
The Jokic Problem
Nikola Jokic hasn’t quite been as absurd as the NBA is used to seeing so far this season. But even in a “slow start” he is still posting averages of 21.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 9.2 assists per game. These numbers would still put him among the NBA’s upper echelon of players if maintained over the course of a season. But, Jokic has proven he’s capable of much, much more. He could explode at any moment, and Portland has to be ready to defend him at his full strength. Luckily, a center rotation of Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams is close to as good as it gets to try and slow down the superstar center.
What Others Are Saying
Denver Nuggets on SI’s Logan Struck talks about the winners and loser of the season so far from Denver, highlighting Christian Braun as a winner.
Through five games, Braun is averaging 15.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.4 steals per game, while shooting 52.5% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. Most notably, he is coming off the best offensive game of his career, with 31 points on 7-9 shooting from deep in a win over the Phoenix Suns.
In his defense, Braun was dealing with injuries throughout the 2025-26 season that slowed him down, and now that he is healthy, he is back to being the high-impact guard Denver needs. We’d still like to see Braun find some more consistency, but he is off to a promising start this season.
NuggLove’s David Decker gives an unconventional suggestion to help the Nuggets’ backup point guard problem.
Sure, the offense is only a 105 with DeRozan on the court and any combo of the other four players around him, according to DataBallr. But in fairness, DeRozan is also adjusting to a new role off the bench for the first time in his career, and he’s also had to play 50 minutes with Tyus at point guard.
The offense of the second unit would improve greatly by moving DeRozan to the backup point guard spot. He’s made some great passes already, and his assists have been steadily climbing as he’s adapting to his teammates. DeRozan had only 5 assists through his first three games, but he’s had 5 assists in each of the last two games, bringing his season average up to 3.0 per game.
Bennett Durando of Denver Post talks about Braun’s importance to the Nuggets and how his hot start has helped the team.
In a league where defensive strategies are shaped by offensive reputations, this season could be a referendum on Braun’s status as a non-shooter. He shot 39.7% from deep on 2.8 attempts per game in his third season — the breakout year that earned him a $125 million contract extension. He shot 30.1% on 3.3 attempts per game in his fourth season, which was derailed by injury.
Opponents are happy, for now, to double-team Jokic or triple-team Denver’s dynamic duo, leave Braun open and live with the consequences. If he can prove last year was the anomaly instead of the year before, the Nuggets’ offense could reach its full potential.
