The Portland Trail Blazers returned from the NBA All-Star break with the best health they’ve had all season and a chance to notch a quality win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
Then those Nuggets — playing on the second night of a back-to-back — blasted the Blazers off their home floor in a 157-103 thrashing of historical proportions. Denver’s 157 points marked the most scored on the road in franchise history and the most by any team in a game this season.
“Of course, one of our worst games
of the season,” Blazers acting head coach Tiago Splitter said. “ … We came off the break and were just not ready.”
Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic seemed unguardable, dropping 32 points and seven assists on 10-15 shooting. All-Star sidekick Jamal Murray put up 25 points and six triples. As a team, the Nuggets knocked down 18 3-pointers through three quarters and 21 triples for the game on over 50% shooting. The firepower propelled Denver to a 14-point lead after the first quarter and a 29-point lead at halftime. The lead grew as large as 55 in the fourth.
“They shot the piss out of the ball today, so credit to them,” Blazers forward Deni Avdija said.
Meanwhile, the Blazers looked out of sorts, from the All-Star Avdija all the way down the roster. Denver packed the paint and threw a vexing zone at Portland. The strategy bottled up Avdija’s vaunted downhill attack, while mucking up any sort of flow for the rest of the offense. Avdija finished with 15 points and 13 assists, but the impact felt quieter than the stats show, and it coincided with six turnovers. Jrue Holiday registered a team-high 19 points with two assists, but also coughed up three turnovers. The Blazers went 15-47 from beyond the arc, and every miss felt loud in the face of Denver’s avalanche.
Any warm fuzzies evoked by the return of Blazers wing Matisse Thybulle — coming back from injury for his first game since Oct. 29 — left the crowd as the score quickly got out of hand. By the time Portland forward Kris Murray checked in at the start of the fourth quarter, marking his first game action since Jan. 5, the game was all but over.
Friday’s blowout loss brought the reminder that Portland’s newfound depth and health comes with the challenge of reintegrating players into the rotation and reestablishing the group’s rhythm. Alongside the return of Thybulle, who jumped right into the regular rotation on Friday, the Blazers are still adjusting to the recent availability of guard Scoot Henderson and recent acquisition of Vit Krejci.
“A lot of guys are coming back from injury, we gotta figure out the rotations,” Avdija said. “There’s a lot of things that go into that.”
“I feel like for me, I’m just trying to get a flow,” Henderson added. “Most importantly, just share the ball as a point guard, try to make the easy pass. Honestly, we need more possessions of just making the simple pass, making the simple play and trusting our teammates.”
Not only are the Blazers welcoming players back into the rotation, but they are reinserting players who have overlapping skillsets. At times this season, the Blazers’ health issues made them desperate for a point guard. Now they suddenly have three primary ball-handlers to balance on the court in Avdija, Henderson and Holiday (that’s with Shaedon Sharpe still out with his left calf strain). Navigating that balance isn’t just about minutes, it involves divvying up each players’ usage and role.
For instance, Henderson was often relegated to spotting up on the perimeter in his 21 minutes off the bench against Denver. He went 3-7 from deep on his way to finishing with 11 points and three assists. After the game, the third-year guard was honest that he’d like to be utilized differently.
“I just want to be part of the on-ball more, but that’s gonna come with how the game flows, and the coaches make that decision,” Henderson said. “All I can do is go out there, play defense, lock in and share the ball.”
Whether it was because of Denver’s hot shooting and/or well-executed defense, Portland still going through an adjustment period, or just a bad night, Friday was a rough start to the season’s home stretch for the Blazers. The team didn’t show any grave concern after the loss, but Splitter and players acknowledged they have to be much, much sharper.
“We gotta defend better, we gotta have more pride,” Avdija said. “But we’ll be alright.”
