FanPost

Overreacting to Game 22: Denver 113, Portland 112

PORTLAND'S DEFENSE IS BROKEN. At least half true. Since the Blazers started their long road trip, their defense has been atrocious. In the last 8 games before tonight, their defensive rating was 116.2, good for 3rd worst in the NBA. Portland does not make teams uncomfortable on offense. They do not exert pressure, they don't get steals, they are not physical. They rely on a cerebral concept of surrendering as many long 2's as possible, with at least some bothering those shots by the trailing guards. Eventually the shooting percentages will fall, the rebounds will be gathered and winning will happen.

For 2 periods tonight, nothing like that was happening. Denver at their best runs some really nice offense. Jokic is the maestro, and it is a pleasure to watch a unit with 5 scorers working together. The Nuggets shredded Portland to the tune of 38 points in the 1st quarter, and 68 for the half. The Nuggets hit 9 3's and it actually felt like it could have been worse.

CJ and Dame have their challenges on defense. The other 3 Blazers need to pull extra duty to make this defense work. The star backcourt has to exert more effort denying the other team; it wasn't there. If Mo is not contributing at the offensive end he needs to be sensational on defense. For the 2nd straight game Portland went to the intermission knowing that they had allowed the other team to waltz through their offense at will.

Against the Magic, Portland could get by with a 2 quarter effort. Denver is playing great ball right now. Once again the Blazers gave a full showing in the 2nd half. Denver only scored 45 2nd half points. Shots were contested. Paths to the rim were closed down. 3 pointers were no longer wide open. If Portland plays desperation defense like they did in the 2nd half for a full 48 minutes sunny days are ahead. If they sleep-walk through halves like the first this is going to be a long season. No amount of hero ball by Dame or CJ can bail them out.

DAMIAN LILLARD SHOT NO FREE THROWS IN 40 MINUTES AND THAT IS WRONG. True. Again I am not here to argue any single call. It is more a trend that is hurting Dame. The NBA had a problem. The Rockets were one of the most successful teams, and they were also unwatchable. Why? Because watching Harden go the free throw line 18 times a game is not entertaining. As offenses evolve into only 3's and attacks of the rim, something had to be done to stop the game from just being a free throw contest. Referees are now making a concerted effort to avoid making every dash to the rim from being called a foul. Screaming for a foul on every play doesn't yield automatic results.

Lillard is a victim of some of his own antics. He looks and asks for calls when there is just tough defense. But he also does not go out of his way to exaggerate contact or flop. On a night when he was looking a double teams and concerted efforts to prevent open 3's, it made sense for him to attack. Denver played great defense on a lot of his drives. But Dame also absorbed a ton of contact. He was fearless and he kept attacking. But he didn't get one single whistle.

There used to be a saying regarding college football: The NCAA is so mad about the violations by Auburn (or SMU or any football power) that they gave Slippery Rock another 2 years of probation. In the NBA it no goes like this: The NBA is so angry about all of Harden's calls that Damian Lillard can't get a break.

DENVER IS AN ELITE TEAM. False. But they are playing pretty good and have a chance to be better. The Jokic/Nurkic battle played itself out to a near draw. Remember that the Joker was supposed to be emerging as a sure All-NBA performer. He did a great job of running the offense as usual, dishing out 8 assists. Jokic's 15 and 6 was well matched by Nurk's 17 and 11. On Denver's last big 3 of the night, Nurk did make a wildy foolish closeout on a potential 3 by Jokic. Once he overran the play it was easy pickings to find a wide open 3 in the corner.

Tonight the key for the Nuggets were the "M Boys": Millsap, Morris and Mason. We saw tonight why Denver missed Millsap so much when he missed more than half the season with injury. Getting a free agent to come join the young core in Denver really changed that franchise. It has just taken until this season for it to matter (Ironically, Aminu had one of his better games and matched Millsap's output. Imagine what the Blazers could be if they could count on that night after night). Morris is an incredible story. He has been playing incredibly consistent ball, and he calmly scored 16 points on 7-8 shooting. Not bad for a guy in the G League last year. Good for Mason Plumlee. We know he is not the most talented guy, and his stats were not big tonight. But his hustle and energy were all over the court tonight. Jokic/Plumlee may be the best center combo in the league.

FINAL GRADE: CJ was magnificent tonight. The 3 point shooting was not. McCollum had 33 points on 14-21 shooting (with no 3's). If scoring were done based on degree of difficulty he would have had 50. His lefty floater as the shot clock was winding down was a thing of beauty. Did he rush the final shot? Maybe. He is always more comfortable dribbling into his shot. Portland was only 6-22 from deep tonight (27%). The Nuggets did defend the arc well. The good news is that Portland found other ways to score. CJ dominated the mid-range and Portland totaled a whopping 66 points in the paint on the way to 53% shooting. Meyers Leonard was once again a factor with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Despite all of the issues in this game, Portland gave themselves a chance. It didn't seem likely for most of the night. The Blazers will not achieve their goals until they give a 48 minute performance night after night. Effort is something the players can control. C