The Portland Trail Blazers won a tremendous game of NBA basketball in Denver on Monday night, defeating the Nuggets 118-110. The victory breaks a string of regular-season losses in the Mile High City dating back to 2010. Deni Avdija led the Blazers with 28 points, while Donvan Clingan pulled down 18 rebounds. Jamal Murray got his with 35 points in a losing effort for the Nuggets.
Here’s some thoughts on how the Blazers got it done.
Terrible Start
The paint was lava in the early going, with the Blazers staying outside
while taking every opportunity to let it fly from deep. That strategy didn’t go well at all. The first 3:15 of the game on offense went turnover – missed 3 – missed 3 – made 3 – missed 3 – missed 3. That’s not a recipe for winning basketball. Fortunately, Portland snapped out of it and started to go a little deeper into the offensive bag, showing more patience and penetrating when the opportunity presented itself. The looks started to improve, but unfortunately not the shooting percentage. Even two-footers were bouncing off the rim, with the Blazers missing 10 shots in the paint in the first half. Just nineteen first quarter points made it 12 minutes to forget. The Blazers were falling behind, but Denver wasn’t making their threes or the game could have been out of reach well before halftime.
Light the Torch
With Denver holding a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter, they simply needed to challenge at the three-point arc and stay strong in the middle, preventing Portland from finding a rhythm. Instead, they got lazy and allowed the Blazers some open looks. And what do you know? Portland scored on six straight possessions, including five three-pointers, crawling right back into it. From that point it was game on. Momentum would ebb and flow after, leaving Portland a chance.
Too Many Free Throws Allowed
Denver feasted at the charity stripe, especially in the first half. The Nuggets took 26 free throws before halftime, 14 more than the Blazers. Sometimes you see such a discrepancy like that and the mind goes immediately to thoughts of a refereeing problem. Honestly, Portland didn’t have too much to complain about. Denver was more aggressive from the start, and there was way too much defense played with the arms instead of the legs by the Blazers. Fortunately, it got substantially better in the second half. In the end Denver shot 13 free throws more than the Blazers, so the Portland had one more free throw attempt than Denver in the second half. Turning around the free-throw deficiency in the second half made all of the difference.
Chris Youngblood
After Vit Krejci picked up 3 fouls in 2:29 of game time, Youngblood got the call. The two-way player for the Blazers got rewarded with 15:27 of playing time, and he looked like he belonged. The 24 year old scored 7 points, played stout defense, and finished a team-high +22. That’s a massive contribution from an unexpected quarter.
Pushing the Pace
One of the keys for the Blazers in the second half was taking advantage of opportunities to dictate the pace. More than a few times Denver got a bit lazy after a made basket, and the Blazers didn’t hesitate to force the issue down the court. It didn’t always result in a fast break basket, but it kept Denver off balance enough to keep momentum flowing in the Blazers direction.
Donvan Clingan
Clingan didn’t always pass the eye test tonight, but who does playing against Nikola Jokic? Let’s let his numbers do some talking: 17 points, 4 blocks, 18 rebounds including 9 of the offensive variety, and 3 assists. Can’t argue with that. With Robert Williams having and off night, the Blazers would have been in a world of hurt without Clingan’s gutsy performance.
Boxscore
Up Next
The Blazers continue their road trip with a visit to Phoenix. They’ll tip off against the Suns on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 6:00 PM Pacific.
