[Trending News] Shorthanded Trail Blazers go down swinging at Denver

The Portland Trail Blazers, missing four key players, faced the prospect of being blown out for a second time in three days at the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

But the Blazers refused to allow a repeat of Monday night’s 146-117 loss to go down.

After falling behind by 75-56 at halftime on Wednesday, the Blazers entered the second half determined to remain in the game. They fell behind by 23 before working their way back to trail by just 126-117 with 2:24 on the clock. The rally stopped there, but the end result was a reasonable 132-121 loss.

That’s a far cry from what went down Monday with Deandre Ayton and Scoot Henderson available. On Wednesday, they joined Jerami Grant and Robert Williams III on the injured list. Yet, the Blazers found the resolve to compete for 48 minutes in the final game before the All-Star break.

“I’m so proud of these dudes,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups told reporters at the Ball Center. “This is a game that in December or November, it could have been a 40-point loss for us. But we fought our butts off.”

The Blazers (23-31) seemingly turned their season around by winning 10 of 11 before losing three consecutive games on the road, including two at Denver.

The team’s trademark during their winning stretch was playing smart and hard, especially on defense. That was difficult to accomplish Wednesday with Ayton (calf), Williams (knee) and Grant (knee) on the bench. The loss of Henderson (ankle) reduced the backcourt’s depth.

Denver guard Jamal Murray scored a career-high 55 points and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic added 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Those types of numbers from Denver’s biggest stars could have buried the Blazers in an extremely lopsided defeat.

“This is a game that could have really, really gotten out of hand,” Billups said. “You look at Jamal and he’s on fire out there. And then Joker just has a modest 26, 15 and 10, where you spent two days and nights trying to see if we can stop him.”

The Blazers could not. But in the second half, Denver struggled to stop the Blazers.

Portland won the second half 65-57 by shooting 51.1% from the field and racking up 15 assists on 23 field goals. They also outrebounded Denver 28-15 with nine offensive rebounds that led to 14 second-chance points.

“We played the right way for the most part,” Billups said. “We were getting crushed on the glass in the first half, and we come back and closed the gap there, which allowed us to have opportunity.”

Rookie center Donovan Clingan, who finished the night with 17 points and 20 rebounds, produced 11 points and seven offensive rebounds in the second half.

“DC is a really good offensive rebounder,” Billups said. “When he gets his hand on it, it’s his. He’s done a really good job of that. He’s established that early in his career already.”

The 7-foot-2 Clingan once again demonstrated that when healthy, any missed shot he can get to could be his.

”He goes out of his area to get these rebounds, which is not easy for a guy his size,” Billups said. “He could just kind of sit there and wait till they fall in his lap. But he doesn’t. He gets rebounds outside of his area, which is a big deal. He’s doing a better job of finishing around the basket.”

The Blazers go into the break on a three-game losing streak, but they do so on a somewhat positive note, given the obstacles they faced at Denver.

“I’m very happy with where we are right now,” Billups said. “Obviously, the injuries don’t make me feel very good, and I hope that we can lick our wounds a little bit over the break. We need the break. We all do. Some need a little time away from each other. But that’s just what the break is all about.”

– Aaron faresment | instaggess@eregonian.com | @Aaronjfentress (Twitter), @Aaronjfentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)