Portland Trail Blazers: 3 takeaways from opening night loss to the Nuggets

PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 12: CJ McCollum #3, and Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers talk during a pre-season game against the Phoenix Suns on October 12, 2019 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 12: CJ McCollum #3, and Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers talk during a pre-season game against the Phoenix Suns on October 12, 2019 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
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CJ McCollum #3, and Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
CJ McCollum #3, and Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Portland Trail Blazers came up short Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets, here’s what we learned from this early misstep.

The Portland Trail Blazers‘ home opener didn’t go quite as planned, as the Denver Nuggets clearly had revenge on the mind. Portland’s division rival came stormed the Moda Center and snapped the Trail Blazers’ record of fifteen straight home opener victories — which was previously the longest standing streak in the NBA.

The loss to Nikola Jokic and company wasn’t the ideal for opening night, but we have to live with it and there’s a lot more to be learned from an early loss with this new group than there is in an easy win.

It was refreshing to see this Rip City squad back in action with a handful of new faces joining the club. The intensity was high in Portland as expected and this game didn’t disappoint other than the fact that the Trail Blazers were on the losing side.

https://twitter.com/trailblazers/status/1187235989678280704

Damian Lillard excelled with 32 points and 8 assists, but his partner in crime wasn’t there to hold up his end of the bargain as CJ McCollum shot 5-for-18 and looked unlike his usual self after he shined in the first quarter.

This Blazers team always bounces back and will be in Sacramento on Friday night looking to back on track, but for now, let’s take a look at the major takeaways from the action that went down in Portland on Wednesday night.