The Denver Nuggets rode a six game win streak into tonight and had no trouble extending it to seven. The Nuggets took control of the game against the Portland Trail Blazers early and never looked back. Nikola Jokic was his usual brilliant self, Christian Braun was big and Jamal Murray did his part until getting ejected early in the fourth. The Blazers dealt with injury and insult and just couldn’t muster any resistance to an offensive onslaught from the Nuggets. Denver wins big, 146-117.

The Nuggets were active on defense early, generating turnovers and then points off those turnovers. Braun was pushing the pace and Jokic was dominating as usual while Denver started to grow a lead. They didn’t miss a single shot for over six minutes to start the game and quickly got up double digits. Joker hit a Sombor shuffle that had no business being shot by anyone other than Jokic and then Murray followed with a hook bank shot…lets just say things were getting silly early (Joker also hit a ridiculous three pointer that should have been an and-one but the refs called the foul on the floor, which it most definitely was not). The first two guys off the bench were Jalen Pickett and Zeke Nnaji. The Nuggets offense was a little clunkier but Pickett did a good job as a secondary creator to Nikola and he got three quick assists. There was a flurry of points right at the end of the quarter, including a Portland buzzer beater from the logo, and Denver finished the first quarter with a 38-27 lead.

Denver’s defense was a bit lax to start the second quarter but their non-Nikola unit was pretty strong on the other end. Braun had the highlight of the shift when he took his man one-on-one off the dribble and hit him with a nasty spin move. DeAndre Jordan and Aaron Gordon were also solid. The Nuggets lead stayed around a dozen. Jokic checked back in and played with Denver’s young reserve group for a few minutes which brought mixed results. Portland got back within single digits while the Nuggets struggled to find offense outside of Jokic. Murray finally broke through with a nasty behind the back crossover into a three. Denver closed the half strong with Nikola scoring and the refs refusing to call obvious fouls on his shot attempts. At half they led 70-55.

The lack of calls carried into the second half. Early in the third quarter both Michael Malone and Murray got technicals arguing about a blatant foul on Jokic by DeAndre Ayton that wasn’t called. Portland went on an 8-0 run to reduce the Nuggets lead to seven. Denver responded to stop the Blazers there who also were dealt a blow when Ayton left the game with an apparent calf injury. The game sort of became less about the Nuggets vs the Blazers and more about everyone against the refs for a few minutes. Murray and Jokic worked their magic to get momentum back on Denver’s side. Jamal hit an impossible spinning and-one to push the lead to sixteen. The Blazers started to lose steam, the Nuggets bench players were hitting their shots and kept adding to Denver’s advantage. Braun had a big fast break dunk and then Pickett a bully ball and-one. By the end of the third quarter the Nuggets were up 112-92.

The fourth quarter opened with immediate drama after Murray hit an and-one and got a little into Portland’s face about it. Some more jawing continued after he hit the free throw which resulted in double technicals. That was the second tech of the game for Jamal and thus his night ended early with an ejection. Denver’s reserves kept scoring while Portland suffered another injury when Scoot Henderson left the game. Both teams were bombing threes and playing little defense as it started to look like an early night for garbage time. Pickett kept playing well, Julian Strawther knocked down some threes…Braun was hitting turn around fadeaways. It was coming up all Nuggets as their lead creeped near thirty. Before the four minute mark Malone emptied the bench. The deep reserves looked like deep reserves but Pickett and Trey Alexander had some nice moments. P.J. Hall closed it out with a dunk and the Nuggets get a blowout victory.

Jalen Pickett appreciation section

It’s been several good games in a row now for Pickett and tonight was no different in that respect. He looked every bit the part of a true point guard off the bench and ended the night with fourteen points, nine assists and zero turnovers. Particularly when he was on the court with Jokic, Jalen was able to find open teammates with crisp passing for several assists. He also was smart on offense and made his shots when he was open. He even got in some classic booty ball. You can’t say enough about how far he has come this season. Written off by virtually everyone after a lackluster Summer League, he’s now not only looking like a legitimate role player, but a guy who you can feel confident about running your offense off the bench.

Just an unstoppable force of offense

Feb 10, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji (22) drive to the basket against Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) as center Donovan Clingan (23) looks on in the first quarter at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

It’s hard to keep track of all the highlight plays tonight. Pretty much everyone had their game going. Jokic of course was brilliant, but six players ended up in double digits as well. Braun was great, Murray had big moments, Pickett and Nnaji played great minutes. Denver looks like a team that’s clicking on almost all cylinders. The defense still needs some work but when Denver plays like this on offense it’s hard to see how a team can beat them in a seven game series. It’ll be interesting to see how the Nuggets re-integrate their regular rotation players who are out but there certainly isn’t any need to rush anyone back with Denver playing like this.