Nuggets regain rhythm thru dominance of Blazers
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
This date with the Blazers proved to be a shot of adrenaline for the Nuggets’ stars, who have failed to rise to the late-season occasion as the playoffs draw near. All you Denver fans owe Portland a big, sweaty thank you. Here’s why…
Sometimes all it takes is a favorable matchup within the friendly confines of a home arena to cure what ails. For the Denver Nuggets, that was especially true on Thursday night. A 109-92 overpowering of the Portland Trailblazers was just what the doctor ordered.
This game is the story of how the Nuggets’ Big Three got their groove back one by one.
The Denver starters match up in a peculiar way against the defensive-minded Blazers’ top five, creating an interplay of equal but opposite forces in the early going of games.
This is an interesting note, because each team’s starting lineup is markedly different in both skill sets & physical attributes. These teams roughly fill each other’s defensive gaps. That favored Portland initially as the Nuggets again struggled to find an offensive rhythm. The Blazers are all about their method, and it was all Denver could do in the 1st Quarter to keep pace.
A fun fact: Portland sports three ex-Nuggets starters, all formerly high-priced acquisitions for Denver. The Blazers start Marcus Camby at Center & Andre Miller at Point Guard, plus Juwan Howard at Power Forward. By the end of the game, it was apparent that the Nuggets have upgraded at each of those positions.
Nene Hilario in particular exploited his counterpart’s softness.
Nene exploded for 22 points against Camby (and often a second defender) to break out of his offensive slump. Each of the Nuggets guards and forwards, especially Carmelo Anthony, made sure to force the ball into Nene in the post early and often.
Nene responded by being the first Denver standout to rediscover his happy place. Turns out it lies somewhere between a spinning, driving dunk and a 10-foot jumper. Who knew?
As great as it was to see Nene return to form, the real advantage for Denver in the first half was its reinvigorated bench.
The Nuggets’ second team matches up very well against the slow, workmanlike Portland backups. Remember, the Blazers have lost half their lineup to injury at different stages of the season, and are still battling to find continuity throughout as a result.
Meanwhile, Denver just got the speedy PG Ty Lawson back from a shoulder strain. Lawson’s aggressive play and improving defense make him a big problem for any team, especially a long, tall team like Portland. Ty is simply too quick and his ball movement too far away from the Blazers’ defensive comfort zone.
The result is not always points for Lawson, but he is a constant disruption to any balanced D. Welcome back Tywon!
The first half closed out as you would expect in a game between division rivals: neck & neck. As has been the case for several seasons between these teams, the Nuggets came brought outstanding talent to the contest, and the Blazers matched it with sure-handed, even effort across its lineup.
Halftime score: Nuggets 56-55
Denver typically comes out soft defensively in the second half, and it’s a good thing too.
The Blazers exploited the sleepy Denver D for a quick lead change out of the gates. At 9:45 of the 3rd Quarter Portland took a 4-point lead on an uncontested LaMarcus Aldridge jumper from 7 feet.
Carmelo & Crew decided that was enough.
The Nuggets, as if waking from an unpleasant dream, snapped into ball-movement mode on their next possession. The result was a Nene dish to Aaron Afflalo along the baseline. Double A drained a 3 to cut the deficit to one.
That would be the last time the Blazers led.
Nene stole a bad pass by Portland’s Nicolas Batum, flipped the ball to Chauncey Billups, and ran to the basket on the break. Billups’ pass met him there for a big-time Nene dunk.
Right here Portland could have taken control back with a strong offensive play. Unfortunately for the Blazers, these Nuggets were doing what they had failed to do in over a week: siphon energy from their opponent with pestering defense and unstoppable, demoralizing offense.
Nene swatted a block for a turnover, Carmelo in isolation on the right side, driving layup for two. The Pepsi Center erupts, Portland Timeout.
When the Nuggets play like this they are the sleeping giant awakened, and it is a fine site to behold.
Carmelo is the next Nugget to find his mojo, and it starts with that driving layup.
To be fair, Carmelo has been the one bright spot through an awful 5-game stretch that dropped the Nuggets from 2nd to 5th in the West. He has been consistent, aggressive, and solid on defense. You can’t ask for any more from your team’s best player.
And yet Anthony was having a quiet game (for him) until an interesting exchange between Carmelo and a testy official sparked the final phase of the blowout.
Anthony is called for a bogus offensive foul, and comes back on a defensive turnover for a breakaway layup. Melo flips the ball to the official at the far end of the baseline after his score instead of handing it to a waiting Portland player under the basket. The official gets puffy and red briefly before calling Anthony for a Technical Foul: delay of game.
(Melo sits for the rest of the 3rd Quarter, presumably thinking all the while about how he’s going to throw some daggers in the final frame.)
A miss by Brandon Roy on the freebie leaves the Nuggets perturbed and in the mood to crush skulls. Denver breaks out for a 7-point lead.
Portland takes a stand here, and it’s a good thing too.
The combination of stubborn Blazers and egomaniacal officials wakes Chauncey Billups from a week-long basketball coma.
Suddenly Chauncey is reaching deep into his bag o’ tricks and pulling out amazing driving layups. Rudy Fernandez repeatedly falls victim to Billups’ veteran wiles. This is alternately entertaining and relieving, and Denver closes out the 3rd with an 11-point lead.
Anthony opens the 4th Quarter with matching 17-foot jumpers from 40 & 45 degrees on the right side on consecutive possessions. This is Melo’s Shot, and he was practicing it during second half warmups. Always a pleasure to watch him fade slightly and drop 2 points from that range… especially when the net doesn’t even move. Anthony has the prettiest shot in the league from that distance, and his second make comes with a foul shot bonus.
Melo’s make on the free throw puts Denver up by 14 with just over 9 minutes left and the Nuggets never look back.
Still, Portland doesn’t start playing defeated, deflated basketball until near the 4-minute mark. That was when the Blazers cut the Denver lead to 10 points.
Denver’s Big Three responds with back-to-back-to-back unanswered scores by Chauncey, Carmelo & Nene in that order.
Nene draws a foul on his score and, after a desperate Portland Timeout, comes back in to finish driving the nail home: 105-88 Nuggets. Each play in this 3-part series is an athletic, slashing drive to the basket, culminating in Nene’s finishing body blow to silence Portland for good.
The 17-point Nuggets advantage holds for a 109-92 final score.
