Portland Trail Blazers Demolish Denver Nuggets
73. 130. 34. Final. 113
The Portland Trail Blazers were on the second night of a back-to-back. They had a late flight. They had a draining game the night before, falling behind by more than 20 before coming back to win in the final minutes against the Charlotte Hornets. If you had asked Trail Blazers fans how they were feeling about their chances of beating the Denver Nuggets tonight, most people probably would have still felt pretty good. Denver is not a great team, but they’d put up a good fight for the home crowd.
None of us could have predicted what actually happened.
Meeting little to no resistance, the Trail Blazers shot threes, threes, and more threes, and those that didn’t fall seemed to bounce right back to them. The Nuggets just shrugged as they were flattened like a penny under a freight train in the first half. The final score of 130-113 doesn’t do the game justice. Denver never had a chance. Multiple records were nearly tied or broken: The Trail Blazers scored 45 points in the 2nd quarter (tying the franchise high), 84 points in the first half (two off the franchise high), LaMarcus Aldridge‘s six blocks (ALL of which came in the first half) were just one shy of his career high. It was a slaughter.
Recap
The Trail Blazers started this game by spotting the Nuggets 6 points. That was nice of them, but the Trail Blazers were feeling especially generous, so they let the Nuggets go up 9-2 before yawning, rubbing their eyes, and beginning the game in earnest. Behind the offense of Robin Lopez, Aldridge, and a tasty three by Nicolas Batum fill-in Allen Crabbe, the Trail Blazers had zipped and zopped their way to a 39-28 first-quarter lead.
The second began with a lot of the same, with Chris Kaman becoming the first player on either team to reach double-digits with 8:30 to go in the half, but the Trail Blazers really cracked it open when both Damian Lillard and Steve Blake splashed triples. Crabbe streaked out on the break for an easy dunk to push the lead to 20…. and they didn’t stop there. Before you could say “blowout,” Lopez scored 5 quick points as the lead ballooned to 71-45… make that 74-45… wait, 76-45… dear lord, show Denver some mercy, will ya..?
The TrailBlazers perimeter shooters found themselves wide open again and again, and even when they rimmed out, they were getting offensive rebounds. It was so dismal that one poor Nuggets fan was shown on the jumbotron knitting (per Trail Blazers Beat Writer Casey Holdahl). A NASTY and-one dunk by Lopez and an Aldridge three (!!!) was the cherry on top of what was an incredible second quarter and first half for Portland, and they strutted into halftime with a gaudy 84-50 lead as the frustrated boos from a weary crowd followed the Nuggets in to the locker room.
With the Nuggets needing to make up serious ground, they did put on a pretty good run to close it to 88-67. The Trail Blazers were suddenly very sloppy on offensive and coughed up a number of turnovers… and the Nuggets cut it to 18. Trail Blazers fans woke from their points-induced coma to cast a sleepy eye toward a game the Trail Blazers had been winning by nearly 40. Then Lillard decided to just bomb from range, hitting consecutive threes to build the lead (and his score) to 27. Between some Denver points, an Aldridge and-one, and five C.J. McCollum points, Portland stretched the lead to 33 at 111-78 after three. Trail Blazers fans slumped back into their easy chairs as they helped themselves to another serving of sweet, sweet points.
The fourth quarter was a benchfest. You just don’t play your starters on the second night of a back-to-back when you’re up 30 points. The Nuggets, facing the Trail Blazers’ third-string, got the game back within 20, but it was meaningless. The game was lost hours before. Final score: 130-113.
Players
(When you flip through these, keep in mind that none of the starters played more than 30 minutes)
Damian Lillard is back. After slumping through the season’s first few games, he’s averaging 28 points and 8 assists over the last two, including 27 and 9 tonight. He only missed one three, and had a few spurts of pure, Lillard-level dominance. That kid’ll be alright.
LaMarcus Aldridge, meanwhile, had an off-game with just 12 and 7 (but added the previously-mentioned six blocks). The flow was much better suited for guard play, as Denver had about as much interest in running the Trail Blazers off the three point line as politicians do engaging in reasonable, civil discussion with their opponents. He only took 11 shots, about half of what he’s used to. I don’t think anyone is too worried about his production moving forward.
Robin Lopez had another excellent offensive game, hitting 8 of his 11 shots for 19 points. He only had 5 rebounds, and didn’t have any blocks, although that could be because Aldridge took them all.
Wesley Matthews contributed 12-5-5, and must have missed the three-point train as it left Union Station, hitting just 2 of 6 from deep.
C.J. McCollum was getting open looks and he took advantage. Kudos to him for not hesitating. He looks increasingly comfortable on the floor. 15 points and 3-5 from downtown.
Chris Kaman continued to show why his acquisition might be one of the most underrated moves of the offseason. 16 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He’s not the most athletic person on the court, but he’s very savvy and extremely coordinated.
Allen Crabbe was unremarkable on offense while filling in for Batum at small forward, but he chipped in 7 points, 3 rebounds, a steal, and a block.
Notes
- I am baffled as to why Denver didn’t (couldn’t?) push Portland off the three point line. The Trail Blazers attempted 33 threes. That’s absolutely insane.
- J.J. Hickson is like cotton candy: looks impressive and is okay in small doses, but you quickly realize that he is mostly just air. He had some nice dunks and looked keyed into the game at times when other Nuggets weren’t, but we were reminded why Trail Blazers fans were not crestfallen when he left.
- Meyers Leonard and Dorell Wright each hit a three, and eight Trail Blazers players attempted one in a game where you’d look a little silly if you didn’t.
The Trail Blazers get a wee bit of time off before the Lopez brothers get a long-awaited rematch as they face the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. PST in Portland.