Blazers vs Nuggets Preview – Blazer’s Edge

The Portland Trail Blazers take on the Denver Nuggets at home during a short one game homestand. Portland needs to turn their fortunes around and end their six-game losing streak. Denver, on the other hand, enters the game on a three-game winning streak and plays the Blazers in the second game of a three-game road trip.

Portland Trail Blazers (8-18) vs. Denver Nuggets (14-10) – Thurs. 19 December at 19.00 Pacific Ocean

How to watch via antenna or cable: See yours opportunities on the Rip City Television Network

How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else

Trail Blazers Injuries: Deandre Ayton, Dalano Banton, Taze Moore Bryce McGowens (doubtful); Matisse Thybulle, (Out)

Nuggets injuries: Christian Braun (doubtful); Dario Saric, Vlatko Cancar, DaRon Holmes (Out)

Portland comes into this contest desperate for a win. After a surprisingly decent start to the season in which the Blazers went 7-10, Portland has lost eight of nine games to fall well behind in the Western Conference. A matchup with the 2023 NBA champions, who are ranked fifth in the conference, isn’t exactly a game a floundering Blazers team wants to see on their schedule as they try to right the ship.

After a second round exit in their title defense season, the Nuggets find themselves right back in the mix of the Western Conference elite. They have hung their hat on offensive efficiency this season, which means they are third in the league at 49.4% shooting from the field and seventh at 38% shooting from behind. Nikola Jokic is playing at an MVP level again, averaging flashy 30.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 9.9 assists per game. game, the point and assist averages of which would be career highs.

The name of the game tonight may end up being ball movement. Portland ranks 28th in the NBA with 22.5 assists per game and is 27th in the league with 15.8 turnovers per game. On the other hand, the Nuggets move the ball constantly, but make sure you take care of it. The 30.8 assists, the average per game, are good for first in the league, and they sit in the middle of the pack with 14.2 turnovers per game. match.

What to look for

Second Chance Points. Despite being a below-average rebounding team, the Blazers are tied for sixth in the league with 12.7 offensive rebounds per game. Portland can make up for their lack of offensive efficiency and try to combat Denver’s high scoring percentage by controlling the offensive glass. However, the Nuggets are the ninth-best team at 45 rebounds per game, and they could easily close that avenue for the Blazers to remain competitive.

About the opponent

Denver Post’s Bennett Durando talked about Jamal Murray’s late-game heroics in the Nuggets’ last-gasp win over the Sacramento Kings.

Murray’s uncanny ability to turn terrible individual performances into timely heat checks and cold-blooded game-winners is one of life’s great mysteries. He did it again in Sacramento, scoring 15 of his team-leading 28 points in the fourth. Late in the third, he had carefully disappeared to the locker room for a brief stay before checking back in. Just three days earlier, he revealed that he has been dealing with plantar fasciitis in addition to a hamstring injury that recently sidelined him.

Doesn’t matter. He got himself going during Nikola Jokic’s rest minutes by knocking down a pair of 3s. Then Denver’s two-man game took over in the final minute. Murray created separation for an 8-foot drop with 52.2 seconds left to take a 125-124 lead; assisted Jokic’s only 3-pointer of the night with 30 seconds left to regain a 128-127 advantage; then slid around a Jokic screen on the final possession to get to his step-back.