Blazers fans buckled in for what they hoped would be the Jusuf Nurkic Revenge Game II, Electric Boogaloo.
Of pre-game interest: Caleb Swanigan got the first of hopefully many starts of his young career. Very quickly, Swanny got a MONSTER block on former Blazer Will Barton, as the Blazers and Nuggets traded blows.
Nurkic and Swanigan had some chemistry early, with Nurk dumping it to Caleb in position down low a few times. One pass led to a bucket, the other to free throws.
Dame was also able to find Swanigan rumbling down low, and The Oregonian reporter Mike Richman had this to say about the rookie:
Caleb Swanigan looks like he belongs. Especially spacing off Nurkic, which is a key if he's going to play with this group.
— Mike Richman (@mikegrich) November 14, 2017
A Blazers 8-0 run, capped by a Nurkic rebound and bucket, forced a Denver timeout with the Blazers leading 21-16 with 3:30 left in the first.
The Blazers more or less held serve for the rest of the quarter, heading into the second up 25-21.
Star through Q1 – Jusuf Nurkic – Eight points, three rebounds, one assist
The Blazers started the second with all bench players: Shabazz Napier, Evan Turner, Pat Connaughton, Ed Davis, and Noah Vonleh were charged with holding the slim Blazers lead.
They did more than just hold it: they extended it, on a series of Turner midrange jumpers, a Connaughton drive, and a Napier jumper that pushed the Blazers’ lead to 10 and forced a Denver timeout.
Meanwhile, Evan Turner couldn’t miss, hitting five jumpers from the dead space between the arc and the paint.
All told, the Blazers’ bench had an eye-popping 25 points in the first half. Not bad considering they average 28 points per GAME.
Unfortunately, the lead got whittled down as soon as the starters came back in. Denver’s perimeter players put an on assault from downtown, the Blazers’ willingness to switch on screens betraying them.
The Nuggets got as close as three, but the Blazers jogged into the locker room up 54-49 at the half.
Blazers 54, Nuggets 49: halftime. 10 points, 4 assists for @thekidet. 10 points, 3 rebounds for @bosnianbeast27. 6 points, 2 blocks for @calebswanigan50. Barton/Murray with 10 each.
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) November 14, 2017
Star through Q2 – Evan Turner – 10 points (5-9 FG), four assists, one rebound
The Blazers quickly pulled their lead to near-double digits. Unfortunately, Swanigan was called for two quick fouls, one of them questionable, and with his fifth foul he was sent to the bench in favor of Vonleh just two minutes into the third.
Halfway through the third, the lead was still at nine, both teams playing less than their best.
It felt like either the Blazers would land a punch and push the lead to near 20 points, or the Nuggets would claw back and get the game into 50/50 territory.
Vonleh had an encouraging play where he defended Millsap at the arc, and ran back fast enough to grab the defensive rebound.
Then Noah had an absolutely disrespectful block, and a Turner jumper pushed the lead to 80-64 and forced another Denver timeout.
Taking a 84-66 lead into the fourth, the Blazers were well-positioned for a quality win against a good opponent.
Star through Q3 – Damian Lillard – 16 points, seven assists, four rebounds
Noah Vonleh was EVERYWHERE on defense to start the fourth. One play early in the final period saw him flying around from the arc to the baseline, then working for the defensive rebound in traffic.
As the time ticked down, you’d be forgiven for thinking the starters would get the rest of the night off.
They didn’t. But that didn’t mean that Blazers fans couldn’t just kick back and enjoy the fourth quarter, a luxury that’s been hard to come by this season.
This game also saw Zach Collins get his first NBA points, a three with a few minutes left in the game. And all 12 Blazers players who saw the court scored.
Your Blazers wished the Nuggets a happy winter and walked away winners, 99-82.
Three Takeaways:
1) Evan Turner played well in the first half. He’s had a rough go of it lately, so let’s give Evan some shine. In a second quarter where the Blazers’ bench dismantled their Mile High counterparts, Turner shone supreme. Pouring in midrange after midrange, Denver could only shield their faces and scream, “NO MORTAL SHOULD MAKE THIS MANY CONTESTED MIDRANGE JUMPERS!! HELP US!!”
More good Evan Turner and less BAD Evan Turner would be a sight for sore Blazers fans’ eyes.
2) The Blazers finally clamped down with a lead. The team’s been saying it all season: they’ve needed to not just BUILD leads, but HOLD leads. They did that tonight. The bench was a tremendous help, with both Vonleh and Swanigan playing above their pay grade. Whether it’s something Portland can turn into a habit remains to be seen, but it was sure nice to see tonight.
Next: No hard feelings from Jusuf Nurkic on being benched recently
3) Caleb Swanigan looked great. You always expect rookie big men to take time to develop, but the 20-year-old looked like a salty veteran. Boxing out? Check. Staying in position on defense? Yep. Rolling down the lane with PERFECT timing to receive the pass? You bet. It’s very early, and it may not show in the stats, but Caleb looks like he has a long career ahead of him.
Next Game
The Blazers play in Portland on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 7:00 p.m. against the Orlando Magic.