Blazers Take Home-Court From Nuggets With Impressive Game 1 Win
Damian Lillard and Portland dominated the second half to win Game 1 in Denver.
Notes, observations, analysis, clips and much more from the Trail Blazers 123-109 win over the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
- Damian Lillard did it all in Game 1. He attacked the rim again and again, shaking off a slow shooting start by forcing the action. He worked from the post more than he has all season, preying on Denver's undersized guards with aggressive face-ups. He mercilessly targeted Michael Porter Jr. after halftime, lifting the Blazers to a lead and helping them keep it with off-dribble triples, multi-crossover pull-up twos and hard-charging drives to the rim – all at direct expense of the Nuggets' young wing. Nikola Jokic was nearly as red a bull's eye, Lillard consistently forcing him outside the paint in pick-and-roll to goad defensive rotations, find open teammates and create his own offense. Ignore Lillard's pedestrian 10-of-25 shooting; many of those misses came at the rim and could have been negated by whistles. His playoff career-high 13 assists paint a more accurate portrayal of Lillard's excellence. Scoring 20 of his 34 points in the Blazers' decisive second half is a pretty telling data point, too, as does his late-game defensive assignment of Porter, one for which he no doubt asked. Lillard said before Game 1 that his body is feeling as fresh as it ever has entering the postseason. He played like it on Saturday, making a forceful case as the best player in a series featuring the MVP shoo-in.
- Portland's halftime deficit wasn't much cause for concern. Why? Lillard and C.J. McCollum combined to shoot 8-of-22 before intermission, each misfiring on several easy looks from the perimeter that were bound to be there all night. They drained three threes apiece in the second half, Lillard especially taking full advantage of Jokic's hesitance to meet him beyond the arc to prevent pull-up threes. It's not like that apprehension was unwarranted. Lillard and McCollum both beat Jokic to the corner in pick-and-roll play multiple times in the first half for easy layups. The Blazers went 19-of-40 from deep overall, outscoring the shooting-challenged Nuggets by 24 on three-pointers. With Jamal Murray out and inherently limited defensively, Denver will likely face a major deficit in made threes throughout this series – a pre-tip expectation that played to form in Game 1.
- Jokic's 34 points and 17 rebounds don't exactly indicate Portland was all that successful stopping him. But context matters, and Jokic wasn't very efficient as a scorer anyway – at least for him. His 59.1 true shooting percentage in Game 1 fell several points below his elite season-long mark. The most important number for Jokic? One assist, a new season-low. The Blazers refused to send an extra defender at Jokic for the vast majority of his post-ups and isolations, leaving Jusuf Nurkic, Enes Kanter and even Robert Covington alone on an island. Jokic had his way with Nurkic at times, and Kanter's 134.5 defensive rating doesn't lie. Jokic dominated Kanter one-on-one late in the first quarter to an extent that left the Nuggets' bench in euphoric hysterics. Portland eventually sent a bit more help at Jokic with Kanter on the floor, then ran a full-fledged double-team at him after a timeout late in the fourth quarter. It worked, just like the Blazers' strategy of turning one of the game's most influential playmakers into a reluctant me-first scorer. Nurkic lost more individual battles with Jokic than he won, but it doesn't matter. Portland's process of defending Jokic one-on-one yielded exactly the wanted result, no matter how frustrating it was at times for fans to watch.
- Nurkic's towering poster dunk on top of Aaron Gordon – which should have drawn a foul, by the way – was only his most authoritative of several pick-and-roll finishes. He had another powerful dunk in the first half, as well as a swooping finger roll around Gordon. Nurkic made a couple plays for others while catching in ball-screen action, too, most notably hitting Norman Powell in the weak corner for three. The composition of the Nuggets' defense means Nurkic will be open on dives to the rim all series. Like his strong end to the regular season suggested, Nurkic is showing he's capable of finishing around the rim with power, touch and acceptable efficiency.
- This was the best postseason game of Anfernee Simons' career. His offense will get the attention, and rightfully so. The 21-year-old was completely unafraid with the ball in his hands in Game 1, missing just one of his six shots while connecting on four three-pointers. His two most significant shots came in opening minutes of the fourth quarter: A poised pull-up two that muted the Nuggets' momentum and a nasty, no-dribble triple right over Markus Howard a few minutes later as the shot clock wound down. Simons had no fear, big for a player whose confidence waned at times over the first three months of the season. His confidence and comfort extended to the other end of the floor, where Simons could have proven a liability given Denver's size on the wing and Jokic's all-court playmaking. Instead, he was an active yet calming presence for the Blazers' defense, successfully executing off-ball switches and not getting beaten backdoor. It didn't feel like it, but Simons played just over 23 minutes off the bench on Saturday, more than both Anthony and Kanter – a major testament to his rock-solid two-way impact.
- The driving force behind Portland's early hole was offensive rebounding. Denver, the league's second-best team on the offensive glass during the regular season, grabbed six of its own misses in the first quarter alone, racking up easy extra points after the Blazers initially forced misses. An easily overlooked aspect of Portland's second-half dominance? The Nuggets had just two offensive boards.
- Carmelo Anthony did most of his damage early, dropping 12 points in the first quarter alone on an array of jumpers, two of his triples courtesy of drive-and-kicks from Lillard. 'Melo drove baseline and hit a tough pull-up right in JaMychal Green's face, too, drawing an and-1. His shooting tailed off from there, but Anthony's concerted effort to sprinkle in extra passes among his typical scoring exploits made a difference from the opening tip. The box score says 'Melo barely contributed to Portland's impressive ball movement, crediting him with just one assist. But this was one of Anthony's best passing games of the season, and certainly his most additive. Quick decision-making beats scrambling defenders; the ball always moves faster than the defense. Anthony played like he knew it on Saturday, an encouraging sign of the Blazers' team-wide commitment to attacking the Nuggets' active defensive scheme.
- Maybe home-court advantage matters less without arenas at full capacity. But Portland won its last four games at Moda Center, and now doesn't have to win another in the Mile High City to advance to the second round. In a series most expect to be longer than five games, that's huge.