Blazers Clinch Playoff Berth By Routing Nuggets In First-Round Dress Rehearsal
Portland was so dominant early that it basically clinched a playoff berth by halftime against Denver.
Notes, analysis, observations, clips and more from the Trail Blazers' season-ending victory 132-116 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday at Moda Center.
- Portland was on fire early, clearly ready to play in what Damian Lillard and many of his teammates called the "biggest game of the season." The Blazers raced out to a double-digit lead before the Nuggets got on the scoreboard, setting the net ablaze with tough jumpers and pushing the ball up the floor early in the shot clock. When Jusuf Nurkic canned a wing triple after popping off a ball screen, Portland was a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the arc. By the time a lopsided opening stanza was finished, the Blazers led 43-22, earning their biggest first-quarter advantage of the season due mostly to draining a whopping nine three-pointers. Denver, to be clear, wasn't tanking this game, playing with plenty of energy and intensity. The Nuggets, stretched thin defensively by the off-dribble shooting threats of Lillard and C.J. McCollum, just had no answer for Portland's shot-making, and didn't come close to making up for it with their own. The Blazers didn't officially clinch the six seed until the final buzzer, but it was clear after this game's first 12 minutes they wouldn't be falling to the play-in tournament.
- Michael Malone waved the white flag at halftime, his team down 71-55 with Portland shooting 55.6 percent over the first two quarters. Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Facundo Campazzo all didn't get off the bench in the second half, content to watch casually from the sidelines. Denver didn't have much to play for on Sunday. The Nuggets' fate was in hands of the tanking LA Clippers whether they beat the Blazers or not. Just like its upcoming first-round opponent, though, Denver must be pretty happy with how the final Western Conference playoff bracket shook out. The Nuggets aren't going deep into the postseason this time around without Jamal Murray. Still, a first-round victory over Portland seems plausible for the Nuggets, and would be quite the coronation of Jokic's epic season.
- Nurkic was every bit Jokic's equal in the first half, despite the MVP shoo-in dropping 21 points before intermission ended his night. Those points came on 9-of-17 shooting, solid efficiency but hardly the type of scoring outburst the Blazers can't survive – especially considering many of Jokic's points came with the Blazers leaving his defender on an island. Nurkic fared respectably overall when matched up one-on-one with Jokic, making him work in the post but proving a bit too slow of foot to keep up with him on the perimeter. Nurkic also accounted for everything he gave up on the other end, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 boards while owning the paint as a pick-and-roll dive man and offensive rebounder. He had a few powerful dunks, too. Portland doesn't expect or need Nurkic to play at the level of his former teammate every time they face-off. Just the fact that it's possible, though, has to make the Blazers feel pretty good entering a first-round series against arguably the league's most unstoppable offensive force.
- Gordon, Campazzo and Rivers combined to shoot 2-of-11 in the first half, scoring just six points. They missed all five of their three-point attempts, too. Will Barton didn't play on Sunday, but expectations are that his tender hamstring should be good to go for Game 1 this weekend. His presence alone will make a massive difference for Denver. Regardless, the Nuggets are sledding uphill in the playoffs without Jamal Murray, and Portland – implementing one of our pre-game keys – treated their bit players like it in a must-win situation. There will be games in the first round when Gordon gets enough easy looks to eclipse 20 points, or Campazzo and Rivers make multiple threes. There's a way to send help to Jokic and make him see bodies without flat-out double-teaming him, though, and it involves paying little respect to his supporting cast – just like the Blazers did on Sunday.
- Terry Stotts made a key point after the game. Maybe Portland's decision to switch Enes Kanter onto Monte Morris, like any strategic choice for either team or bout of lethargy from Denver, was a byproduct of the Blazers and Nuggets knowing they'd likely see each other again in the playoffs. As much as Rip City wants to believe Sunday's game is a precursor of what's to come in the first round, this game is probably less of a harbinger than either of these teams' prior meetings during the regular season.