The Portland Trail Blazers knew they’d have a scary time on Friday night, tasked with beating the conference-contending Denver Nuggets. Denver is a veteran team, former champions, anchored by perpetual NBA MVP candidate Nikola Jokic. The Blazers looked like a poodle nipping at the heels of a Doberman.
But you know what? Poodles still have teeth. They also have as much heart as any dog. The Blazers showed both, sticking close to Denver through bad stretches and opponent runs both. As bad as the Nuggets made Portland look–and it was pretty bad, at times–the game was tied with 4:00 left in the fourth period.
From there it was pure chaos that you had to see to believe. The closing minutes of the game featured huge shots from Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon, plucky play from the Blazers’ small-ball unit, and (don’t say it too loud or people will get angry) some of the wackiest refereeing we’ve seen in a long time.
The end result was all good for the Blazers, though. Jerami Grant hit two free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining and Jokic missed a turn-around at the buzzer, leaving Portland with a hard-fought 109-107 victory.
Here are observations from the game.
The Nuggets gave a clinic on how to beat the 2025-26 Trail Blazers in the first quarter. It started with defense at the point of attack. They played a modified zone, allowing them to seal off the middle, then cut to ball-handlers as they stalled looking for openings. On the first dribble, Portland players found a defender in their grill. Coming off of screens, lurking at the arc…Denver just played stiff, straight-up D. This resulted in Portland backing up and shooting contested threes. 7 of their first 9 shots came from distance. 6 of those missed.
Even worse, Portland’s tempo fell to a glacial halfcourt level. Slow-down ball exposed every weakness of the Blazers’ scorers. There are plenty. Adding insult to injury, Denver built an 8-0 lead in fast break points before the quarter was done.
Damian Lillard came to the Moda Center dressed as Randy “Macho Man” Savage for Halloween tonight. His teammates wore their Saturday morning syndicated jobber singlets, seemingly ready to lay down for Denver in record time.
With a little over 30 seconds left in the quarter, the arena clocks went wacko, resetting to 99 minutes. The way the period was going, the Blazers couldn’t have caught up if the teams had played out every second of that clock. The Nuggets led 26-18 after one.
If I have to tell you what a huge disaster scoring 18 points in a period is to this year’s Blazers, you haven’t been watching the team. Their offense is scripted straight from Speed. If the team slows down below 50 mph, they’re going to explode.
For all the futility, Portland still didn’t lose contact. Denver’s lead vacillated between 4-8 through most of the first half. The Nuggets bench just couldn’t keep up the stone-faced defense that their first unit provided. They also got sloppy with the ball. Turnovers in the reserve minutes led to run-outs for the Blazers. That got the defense fatigued a little. Deni Avdija began leading a charge towards the rim on offense. His teammates followed suit. Suddenly Denver’s defense compacted and Portland got some open threes. Not all of them fell, but enough. Denver also had open looks at the arc, but they couldn’t cash at all…far worse than the Blazers were. Starting the game 4-17 from the arc hurt the Nuggets’ cause immensely. In the midst of it all, the Blazers found themselves down just 57-53 at the half.
Keeping the score within reach was the single, overarching theme of this game for Portland. They proved that if you can still see the opponent, anything can happen. It’s as good of an approach for this team as any.
After halftime another difference between the teams started to show. Denver, still reliant on their starters, started to tire. Jamal Murray looked markedly slower. Nikola Jokic wasn’t exactly burning up the court either. But everybody on the Blazers’ side looked young, interchangeable, and thus relatively immune to fatigue. Able to speed up finally, Portland geysered out an 11-2 run early in the third. Advantages come where you find them.
It’s worth noting that Denver’s second unit redeemed themselves somewhat in the third, coming in at the tail end of the Portland run and accelerating the scoring tempo right back at their hosts. That eliminated any advantage the Blazers gained from their outburst.
Deni Avdija has had, and will have, better statistical games, but this was the Game of the Year for him in terms of sheer impact. He broke the bars on Denver’s defense in the first, slicing through the lane and getting to the rim when nobody else could. That opened up passing opportunities, which he also executed. After that, Portland’s offense looked 100% more effective than it had prior.
The reprise came in the fourth period. When Denver’s Big 3 were hitting massive shots to put away the win, Deni kept coming back with drives and free throws. He kept the Blazers in it when nobody else could.
Avdija finished the game with 23 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. He shot 7-13 from the field. The only time he didn’t look great was when he was forced to play point guard when Holiday rested because of an injury to Blake Wesley. Avdija didn’t look comfortable running the whole show. He had 4 turnovers tonight.
Portland let Donovan Clingan guard Nikola Jokic early in the game. Clingan did ok, all things considered. He battled Jokic to a standstill on most rebounds and a few defensive possessions. Joker stifled any attempts at offense Clingan made, but the Blazers don’t rely on Donovan for points anyway.
After that, though, Portland employed an interesting technique. They kept forwards on Jokic, even and especially in the post, then brought the center or a wing across to bother the shot when Joker went into his shooting motion. Jokic finished the game 7-10 from the floor with 21 points, so you can judge how well it worked. But hey, at least it wasn’t 40. The real problem is that Jokic also had 14 rebounds and 9 assists. Those killed the Blazers, especially when his outlet passes triggered a break.
When Clingan got back onto Jokic in the second half, the former MVP had had enough. Watching him dissect Clingan and turn him around wasn’t pretty. But at least there was that opening stretch.
The small-ball approach returned in the fourth and paid big dividends as Portland forced a half-dozen turnovers on their opponents. That kept them in the game when nothing else would. Denver answered by getting the ball to Jokic in the low post. The Blazers were helpless against him, giving up buckets and fouls. But mobility allowed them to deny the entry pass AND make help blocks in the closing possessions. The bigger lineup would have gotten trumped by Denver’s talent, but the smaller group gave them trouble. Good technique by Tiago Splitter and the coaching staff.
Honestly, there’s no way to defend Jokic that makes sense for 95% of all NBA teams. The way the Blazers switched it up tonight at least made things interesting. They actually caused Denver some trouble late in the game. It’s hard to ask for more.
Kris Murray had a couple of nice stretches with Portland’s second unit. His three-point shot continues to look broken but he drove to the rim effectively, rebounded, and had a few Big League defensive plays. Murray played 29 minutes and contributed 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Between Murray and Toumani Camara, the Blazers rushed hard at Denver dribblers pretty much the whole game long.
As a point of interest, Robert Williams III played his first game of the season tonight. His line read: 11 minutes, 4 points, 3 offensive rebounds, an assist, and a block. He looks mobile enough to fit into Portland’s attack this year.
Duop Reath also saw 7 minutes of action.
You can see the vision for both these guys: avoid lumbering centers but don’t sacrifice all your height. Stay tuned for how well it works.
Three stats explained how weird this game was for Portland.
“First, in a slow-down game against a veteran squad, the Blazers ended up fouling far more than they got fouled.” That’s the line I had written for this section of the recap at the end of the third quarter, when Portland trailed by, like, a dozen free throws. When the smoke cleared after the fourth period, each team had attempted the same number of foul shots: 31. Part of that is explainable by the Nuggets succeeding in keeping the Blazers in the halfcourt for 36 minute but Portland busting out in Minutes 37-48. But part of it was also strange, strange reffing down the stretch. Earlier in the game, Denver appeared to be getting the benefit of reputation whistles. In the fourth, Portland got 3-4 calls that–though maybe not incorrect–they certainly wouldn’t get twice. The most astonishing was a wrap-around jump ball call on Denver’s final offensive possession wherein Camara appeared to be fouling Jokic, but instead got the 50-50 ruling. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. Frankly, one reason is because reaching around Jokic from behind and having your hands come anywhere close to meeting is a near-impossible task for most mortals. Having them meet exactly on a basketball that you very much can’t see on a play that looks more like an intentional foul than a tie-up…let’s just say that one will take some rewinding.
Second, three-pointers didn’t make up the difference for Portland. They shot 11-39 overall from the arc tonight, just 28%. Thankfully the Nuggets were worse at 6-25, 24%. Denver had some open looks too.
Finally, and most tellingly, Denver owned a 25-14 advantage in fast break points. That’s like beating Dolly Parton in a karaoke contest singing “9 to 5”. Shouldn’t happen. On paper, it should have ruined the Blazers’ chances. Instead they got the win. Spooky, but true. Believe it…or not.
The Blazers welcome the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night at 7:00 PM, Pacific.
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