A very important Northwest Divisional meeting between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets gets underway tonight at 6:00 p.m. PST in Denver. The Trail Blazers did exactly what they needed to do against the Timberwolves on Sunday, bounce back. The Nuggets won a supercharged game against the Jazz in Utah last night and will try to avoid their third loss to the Trail Blazers this season. You can watch the game on KGW or listen on Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Back in the win column, the Trail Blazers should have high hopes for tonight’s game in Denver. They have dominated the Nuggets in the first two meetings this season and the Nuggets will be in the second game of a back-to-back. Even with a win on Sunday, coach Terry Stotts was not impressed by the performance of his team. “In the end, it looked like a good game, but it was a struggle for most of the night as far as just kind of getting into a rhythm,” Stotts told Trail Blazers beat writer Casey Holdahl. He also stated that defense is where the Trail Blazers win games, “…we’re at our best, when we get some stops and play in flow.”
Aldridge had an efficient game on Sunday and I hope to see that continue tonight. He has recorded double-digit rebounds in the last five games, raking in a season-high 15 boards on Sunday. Aldridge has been very productive against the Nuggets this season. In the first meeting, he had 28 points and nine rebounds. On November 12 in Denver, he only needed to play 30 minutes due to the blow out victory (130-113) but he did have 12 points, seven rebounds, and season-high six blocks. He posted a career-high seven blocks against the Nuggets in Denver on December 28, 2010. As Jason Hortsch pointed out, Aldridge is still the foundation of this young Trail Blazers team. Look for Stotts to go to him early tonight and use him as a spark or to get Faried in foul trouble.
Since getting blown out by the Trail Blazers on November 12, the Nuggets have been on a tear. They are 8-2 since that game and are averaging 108.3 points per game. They have four games with more than 110 points, going 3-1 in those games. All five starters for the Nuggets are averaging double-digit points on the season. Easy to say that offense comes natural for the Nuggets. Their Achilles heel is on the defensive side of the ball. Yet when they do play defense, they are a very dangerous team. When holding opponents to 101 points or less, the Nuggets are 7-0 on the season.
I hope to see two things happen tonight from the Trail Blazers. First, Batum has to be more aggressive. Batum’s season has been a roller coaster and the last five games are a prime example. In those games, his point totals look like this: 12, 6, 10, 6, 10. If the trend continues, he is due for about a six point game tonight, and that won’t cut it. Batum needs to stop trying to find his rhythm by taking jump shots. Instead, he should look to get to the rim and make a few easy buckets to elevate his confidence. He is the classic Swiss Army knife player, doing everything well, but if he can’t increase his scoring, the Trail Blazers may find that to be a problem as the season goes on.
Finally, I’d like to see an improved performance from the free throw line. The Trail Blazers were the leading free throw shooting team last season, making 81.5 percent as a team. That’s an impressive number and it helped them make the seventh most free throws last season (1,569). The Trail Blazers have failed to take advantage of the charity stripe so far this season. They are shooting 78.7 percent but it seems to be far lower. On Sunday, the Trail Blazers shot 68.0 percent from the free throw line. In fact, they have shot below their season average in their last three games. Ouch, those are free points, right? If the Trail Blazers can shoot above 80.0 percent from the line tonight and have 20 or more attempts, that will set them up well for a win.