The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 109-107 in a wild game tonight. Jerami Grant hit the game-winning free throws in the final seconds as Nikola Jokic’s game-tying attempt just missed the mark.
On Halloween 2012, rookie guard Damian Lillard walked into the Rose Garden for the first regular season game of his career. Tonight, several Blazers put on their Lillard costumes late in the game, delivering clutch performances reminiscent of Dame Time.
Player of Note
Toumani Camara had two huge defensive plays in the final 6.9 seconds of regulation to keep the game tied 107-107. Playing with five fouls, he blocked a Cam Johnson layup, then forced a jump ball by tying up Nikola Jokic [ed. From behind!]. His late-game heroics set the stage for Grant’s winning free throws.
Stat of the Night
The Blazers were fortunate to win in a much different fashion than their first three victories. In close games, every easy basket matters, but it was the Nuggets doing more damage in the fast break tonight. Denver had 25 fast break points to Portland’s 12.
What We Noticed
Opposing teams have struggled against Portland’s full-court pressure, so Nikola Jokic tried a different approach. He burned the Blazers repeatedly with long outlet passes that led to easy Denver buckets.
And outside a few brief stretches, the Nuggets controlled the pace of play. The Nuggets spent much of the first quarter in a zone that stalled Portland’s offense, limiting the Blazers to 7-26 shooting from the field, including just 1-12 from behind the three point arc. It will be interesting to see what kinds of tactics upcoming opponents use to slow the Blazers down.
Lastly, even against the best big man in the NBA, the Blazers played a small-ball lineup to close out the game.
Up Next
The Blazers host the Los Angeles Lakers at 7:00 PM Pacific on Monday night.
