[Trending News] Jamal Murray Drops 55 as Nuggets Extinguish Blazers

On Monday night when the Portland Trail Blazers played the Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic scored 40 points and Denver hammered the Blazers mercilessly. Portland came into their game against the Nuggets on Wednesday night determined to avoid a repeat. They did, sort of. Jokic didn’t score 40. Jamal Murray did, producing a career-high 55 on 20-36 shooting. The Nuggets hammered the Blazers just as hard too, walking off the court with a 132-121 win.

The Blazers played this game without starting center Deandre Ayton, out for a month with a calf injury. Donovan Clingan took his place, scoring 17 points on 7-12 shooting with 20 rebounds. Jabari Walker also served up 17 points and 7 rebounds in 19 minutes of play. Anfernee Simons led the Blazers with 26 points.

Here are the factors that decided the game.

Joker Passing

After Nikola Jokic scored 40 on the Blazers in their last game, Portland changed their defensive approach against the All-World center. Instead of keeping a center on him, they had Toumani Camara guard him on the perimeter, trying to take away the three-point shot and easy dribbles to the middle. When Jokic drove, Portland collapsed on him with multiple players.

This approach succeeded in the sense that it kept Joker’s shot attempts and points down. He only took 7 shots in the first half, hitting 4. But his passing picked up mightily. The MVP was like a surgeon, threading the ball to players left open by the Blazers blitz at him, whether at the arc or near the rim. Jokic finished the game with 10 assists. Murray was a favorite target.

The Blazers changed up a bit in the second half, letting Clingan guard Jokic straight up. That’s when Joker did most of his scoring. Clingan tried hard, but it was in vain. Jokic ended up with 26 points despite his best efforts.

Basically there’s no way for Portland to win over that caliber of player right now. It showed.

Offensive Rebounds

Another symptom of going small versus the Nuggets was a clear struggle with rebounding. Denver grabbed 12 offensive boards for 14 second-chance points. That’s how they built their initial lead.

Fortunately Clingan’s 10 offensive boards evened the score and then some. The Blazers finished with 14 offensive rebounds for 18 second-chance points, at least giving themselves a glimmer of hope.

Threes

As if the Nuggets needed more positivity, they shot 15-38, 39.5% from the three-point arc. That number was a bit illusory though. As happened Monday night, Denver spent most of the game above 50% from the arc. Portland didn’t forget how to defend. See above re: their collapsing defense on Jokic. That left multiple players open on the perimeter. Denver made the Blazers pay.

That’s a short list, but the game really was that simple. Portland had no counter against those factors, and that was the ballgame. The Blazers made a brief run in the fourth quarter when Denver messed around trying to get Murray his career high, but it was short-lived.

Trivia

Denver’s starters scored 129 of their 132 points tonight. The Blazers put seven players in double figures, but they might have been just a little outmatched.

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Boxscore

It’s now time for the NBA All-Star Break. The Blazers will be off until February 20th when they face Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers with a 7:00 PM, Pacific start.

Please don’t forget to donate tickets for Blazer’s Edge Night so underserved children and youth can see the Blazers play in person next month!