Three games against the Nuggets in about a month time-span?! Reminds me of the Phoenix Suns games of last season that I started to dread. Luckily, the Nuggets do not have Portland’s number. That much is clear. However, they were closer and, honestly, won this game, but blinked in the fourth quarter and they lost it.
The Portland Trail Blazers steal a victory over the Denver Nuggets by a score of 105-103 on Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center. Portland improves to 14-4 on the season, while the Nuggets fall back to .500 at 9-9. Portland has now won the season series against Denver, currently sitting at 3-0 and will face them one more time in the Moda Center.
If anyone remembers the second game against Denver when Portland scored a ridiculous 84 points in the first half, you will no doubt remember the booing that the Denver fans gave to their team. That was a low point of what was a frustrating and terrible start to a season for Denver. They not only were getting out-scored, but their energy, body language and teamwork was non-existent. Whisperings of players being benched because of not understanding head coach Brian Shaw’s instructions, “star” Kenneth Faried not being well-liked within the organization (still potentially true) and just rotations and a roster that seemed to have a bunch of players that nobody else wanted.
That was the case, I should say. Since that game, the Nuggets have gone 8-2 in the ten games leading up to this matchup, including victories against the Cavaliers, Chicago and New Orleans. After a few impressive victories this Denver team looks completely different. Players are trusting each other, the body language is completely different, rotations seem to be coming into focus and players are doing what they are capable of doing. Ty Lawson is slashing, driving and dishing assists as he does best. Wilson Chandler is hitting three-pointers and just making buckets. Faried, while not necessarily living up to that big four-year contract extension, has certainly had an energy level higher than it was earlier on. One thing that hasn’t changed though is J.J Hickson’s defense. We’ll get to that later.
This game was a big test for Portland in a couple of ways. One, it was another road game and Portland needs to continue winning on the road if they want to keep that upper-echelon status about them. Secondly, Denver had this game pegged as a revenge game (seems like a lot of teams are doing that this year). So, not only is Denver normally a tough place to play because of the altitude and the fan-base, but this Denver team was re-energized and had been playing some fantastic basketball.
Well, Denver did come out aggressive and hot. They outscored Portland 31-23 in the first quarter shooting 67% from the field and led by Hickson and Arron Afflalo who both had seven points on a combined 6-for-8 shooting. The defense, obviously, was questionable. Lawson was able to slash from the get-go and post-ups with Afflalo on Damian Lillard and other problems were evident. Denver’s ball movement was also better. They registered seven assists in the quarter.
Portland did keep pace with them after the initial blow thanks to the incredibly hot-shooting of LaMarcus Aldridge. He finished with 39 points on 16-for-30 shooting and had 11 rebounds, two blocks and one assist. Denver, at this point, has no idea how to guard LA. The problem lies in that Portland, in general, is just a matchup nightmare. LA was double-teamed in the last game against Denver, but then Portland shot 49% from three making 16-of-33 in the that game. However, in last night’s game, LA was not double-teamed and resulted in a 39 and 11 showing.
Still, with as hot as LA was, Portland could not sustain a run. Not only were the Nuggets making some long range shots as well as just getting easy buckets, the Blazers could not seem to hit the three-ball. They were 5-for-22 and shot just 23% from beyond the arc, three of those coming from Steve Blake. It obviously disrupted what Portland was trying to do and it allowed Denver to keep a substantial lead. The Nuggets biggest lead was 14.
In the fourth quarter, however, Portland got back in it. Portland outscored the Nuggets 27-18 in the quarter. They shot 48% from the field and 29% from three. The Nuggets, on the other hand, shot 37% from the field and 29% from three. The defense was tightening up, but Denver was also not helping their cause. They only recorded three assists in the whole quarter and Danilo Gallinari had lost any sort of hot touch he had in this game as he went 0-for-4. Another big stat was that Portland scored six points off of three turnovers by Denver. Denver had a ten-point lead on a Lawson three-pointer with 9:48 remaining. Portland did not score a basket for two minutes in the beginning of the quarter.
Portland had balanced scoring in the quarter, led by none other than LA who had nine points on 4-for-7 shooting in the quarter. However, the biggest play of the night was not scoring for LA, but a pass. With :19 remaining in the fourth, the Blazers had possession and ran a pretty good play that saw Lillard drive to the backdoor and do one of his patented under the basket spin lay-ups. The ball had too much spin and thus spun out of the rim. However, Portland was able to corral the rebound allowing for the Blazers to have the final look of regulation with just 1.3 seconds remaining and at the very worst have to go to overtime.
What happened next was so simple it probably shocked the Denver defense. LA got the ball at the top of the key and looked like he was going to shoot. In a later interview, actually, he said he was going to, but Robin Lopez was able to slip underneath Hickson in order to receive a perfect high-low pass from LA and Lopez was able to get the easier bucket of the quarter. The Nuggets had one last chance, but could not convert on a desperate Gallinari three-pointer. Portland stole one.
First off, all those Blazer fans that wanted us to sign Hickson to an extension, go home. Hickson did not play any defense in Portland and it is still that way in Denver. Throughout the night, Hickson was getting mauled on that end of the court. Furthermore, in the final play, Hickson did not provide any kind of defense whatsoever allowing Lopez to get underneath him and turn around. Once a player turns the corner on Hickson, forget it. Portland knew that and abused it.
With this victory, Portland is 5-0 against their division so far.
Aside from Aldridge being the high-scorer, the backcourt for Portland provided some help.
Lillard had 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting, 1-for-5 from three and had six assists, three rebounds and one steal. Lillard had a hot third quarter as he brought Portland back from the dead scoring eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, 1-for-3 from three.
Wesley Matthews, after being almost automatic from beyond the arc in the past couple of games, was ice cold. He finished with 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting, 1-for-10 from three and had two rebounds, one assist and two steals. Matthews was just not on for the most part and a fan has to know he was going to come back down to earth at some point. However, 1-for-10 is a bit unusual even for a bad shooting from Wes.
Nicolas Batum is continuing to go through his shooting slump. He finished with only four points on 2-for-6 shooting, 0-for-3 from three, but provided 13 assists, four rebounds and three steals. He is not scoring right now, but he is assisting like a fiend. Looks like a Rajon Rondo stat line.
Steve Blake was on fire. He finished with 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting, 3-for-3 from three and had three rebounds and three assists. Both Blake and Lillard sparked a third quarter comeback that brought Portland back from the dead. They forgot about Blake, again.
This was an impressive road victory and a great test for this team. Denver was ready for blood and Portland snatched it away at the last second. Denver did play a lot better, but ultimately, I think it comes down to the matchup. If Portland had shot even slightly better from three and made eight or nine baskets from beyond the arc, this game would have been a lot less intense. Regardless, credit the Nuggets for turning it around. This team looked lost and without direction a couple of weeks ago. Now, they look like a legitimate threat to any Western Conference team on a given night.
Portland continues to plow through the schedule and now have won five straight on the road. Next up, the Indiana Pacers at the Moda Center on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. PST. Last season, this would have been a marquee game filled with stars and hard-nosed basketball. While the basketball may still be hard-nosed, Indiana has been decimated with injuries. Paul George, their superstar, is out for the season due to that horrific injury he sustained during a U.S.A. basketball scrimmage. George Hill has even had problems and has not played in some time due to a tear in his quad. David West and Roy Hibbert have had to hold down the fort and, honestly, with a 7-11 record, they have not done a horrible job. Still, Portland should have the upper hand. Stay tuned!