3 Takeaways From Game 1 Portland Trail Blazers Vs Denver Nuggets

The Portland Trail Blazers fell to the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals. The Nuggets now lead the series 1-0.

The Denver Nuggets received major production from their star players and role players. The Portland Trail Blazers faced many problems in this game and will have to set their focus on winning Game 2 back on Denver’s home court. Here are 3 key takeaways from the Blazers 121-113 loss:

Guard Battle: Damian Lillard Vs Jamal Murray

This series is going to be highlighted by the guard battle between Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and Nuggets’ guard Jamal Murray.

Lillard finished the game with 39 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists shooting 57% from the field. He did most of his damage from the free throw line and slashing to the basket. Lillard abused the high pick and roll in this game, using it to his advantage to get easy buckets. Lillard, unfortunately, didn’t shoot the ball well from 3 in this game as he shot 33% on three-pointers going 4-12. Turnovers were also a problem for the Blazers in this game as they turned the ball over a total 18 times, Lillard contributed 6 turnovers in the game.

On the other side, Jamal Murray is performing well in his first taste of the postseason as he was one of the reasons why the Nuggets were able to defeat the Spurs in the first round. He proved to be a scoring threat in this game as he finished the game with 23 points, 8 assists, and 2 steals. Murray shot an efficient 8-15 from the field and contributed to some three-pointers as well. His shooting is going to be something that the Blazers must watch out for as he can get hot from 3 very quickly.

Denver’s Bigs Too Much For Portland

The biggest problem coming out of this game was the bigs from the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap combined for a total of 56 points. The Blazers struggled with guarding Jokic as he did his damage from inside the paint, three-point range and also was able to dish out 6 assists and grab 9 rebounds.

Two of Portland’s starters, Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless combined for 4 points. Harkless fouled out of the game late in the fourth quarter. The Blazers must find some production from the offensive and defensive end from these players to combat Denver’s bigs. Millsap was going at Aminu on the offensive end, scoring 19 points for the game.

Denver also got some production out of former Blazer Mason Plumlee, who was a thorn in the side of Portland. Plumlee provided some hustle plays and tallied up 5 steals for the game.

Enes Kanter is the Key for the Blazers in this series

Enes Kanter was questionable to play in game 1 as he has been battling a shoulder injury that he sustained in the first round against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kanter was seen grimacing after a dunk in the 1st quarter from his injury. He played 33 minutes and provided an inside presence in the game. The question with Kanter is will he play out the entire series with the injury? He is a valuable piece for the Blazers as he is going to put some pressure onto Denver’s bigs to defend. The Blazers are really going to need him to make this series interesting.

Even with this injury, Kanter played fantastic as he finished the game with 26 points and 7 rebounds on an efficient 11-14 from the field. He benefited off of pick and roll feeds from Lillard and CJ McCollum. The Blazers had a handful dealing with Nikola Jokic, so in order to combat Jokic’s performance, Kanter is given a difficult task having to battle a shoulder injury and battle against one of the best centers in the NBA. Kanter is going to have to provide consistent and meaningful minutes for the Blazers.