The Denver Nuggets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers on a career night from star Jamal Murray, who scored a career-high 55 points to lead Denver to victory. Nikola Jokic also had a triple-double on the night with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists while Christian Braun had 21 and 10 to help Denver overcome only getting 3 total points from their bench players. The Trail Blazers played hard but didn’t have the horses despite 26 points from Anfernee Simons and a stellar 17 point, 20 rebound performance from rookie Donovan Clingan. In the end Denver’s firepower was enough to take the victory and head into the All-Star Break without a loss in the month of February so far.
Game Flow
Anfernee Simons opened the scoring with a wing three, the Nuggets missed a couple of deep shots, and Clingan’s bank shot was answered by a Zeke Nnaji oop from Nikola Jokic. Portland hit another 3, while Julian Strawther missed from one corner but Nnaji made one in the other corner. Christian Braun got to the free throw line in transition, but Portland stayed hot from deep for the early 11-7 lead for the Blazers. The Nuggets suddenly heated up as well as Jamal Murray and Braun both buried threes, then Mal swished another for a 16-13 Denver lead. Clingan made a shot, Braun answered, and Strawther buried a deep shot off a Murray assist. Jokic had free throws, Murray had a tough finish, and Jokic found Braun for a cut and finish to extend Denver’s lead to 10. Portland tried to fight back by getting to the foul line as Dario Saric got on the court with Nnaji in foul trouble, and Murray hit a corner 3. Mal then got fouled and made free three throws, Jokic had a nice paint finish, and Strawther’s transition finish attempt was blocked. Dalano Banton and Christian Braun exchanged buckets, Jokic finished a Braun assist, and Banton’s 3 still left Portland down 13 after one quarter, 40-27.
Strawther hit an opening three for Denver, Jamal missed another, then hit a jumper and a finger roll around a Clingan finish. Another Murray three put Denver up 50-29 and forced an early Portland timeout. The Blazers went on a mini 6-0 run before Murray hit another 3. Deni Avdija and Strawther exchanged makes, then Strawther buried a three as Denver kept the pressure on. Hunter Tyson had his paint shot blocked, then bricked a transition 3. Simons hit a 3 after a Denver turnover that make it a 57-42 Nuggets lead, and another Denver turnover led to another Portland bucket. Zeke Nnaji made a free throw, but Jabari Walker hit two more buckets for Portland to whittle the lead down to 9 and Denver called another timeout. Jokic had a rebound and a score, Portland hit yet another 3, and Jokic went back to work inside after Murray’s attempt to draw a foul went for naught. Jalen Pickett hit a three for Denver’s first bench points, then Mal hit a pair of threes in a row to close the quarter strong for Denver, who went into the half up 75-56 on a stunning Jokic tip-in on a Murray free throw miss.
Jokic had an easy score over Clingan to open Denver’s second half scoring after a Simons three for Portland. Braun hit a three, Avdija and Murray exchanged buckets and Simons had a three-point play. Nnaji had a nice finish on a wrap-around pass from Jokic, but Strawther couldn’t complete a three off a behind-the-back pass from Murray. Clingan punished Denver inside on a couple of possessions, making buckets and drawing fouls to close to within 14 at 84-70. Avdija made a layup and Denver went back to Jokic for a Sombor Shuffle and then a Murray steal for a finish. Portland had more effort on the boards to start the second half but Denver scrambled well on defense and Nnaji had a couple of blocks. The Nuggets struggled to finish potential assists from Jokic, so after a few misses in a row Jokic took it to the hoop himself for a traditional 3-point play to put Denver up 94-75. Nnaji put back a Jokic miss and then Murray attempted to posterize Portland but got fouled on the dunk attempt. Jabari Walker made a couple of buckets but Murray answered with a great drive and then a follow-up push shot off his own three-point miss. Braun had a nice reverse-layup off a Jokic pass and Walker did the best he could to keep Portland close. A few bad possessions from the bench guys including Jalen Pickett as they got tentative, but Murray came back in for another bucket to get to 45 points through three quarters and get Denver the 107-91 lead going into the fourth.
Murray had a great drive and a transition bucket to get to 49 points as he kept attacking, but missed his first layup attempt at a new career high. Sharpe hit a deep shot for Portland to cut it to a 13 point Denver lead, and Jamal was a little too focused on trying for that high mark while Portland kept scoring. Braun missed a push shot, Portland hit a drive and a bad pass from Murray and then a block on Murray’s shot kept the game closer than it should have been. But then Jamal hit a push shot after a replay review to get his new career high and Denver was off and running again. Nnaji hit a 3, Braun had a steal and then a full-court finish for a three-point play. The Blazers finished a couple of drives, Murray answered with a pullup, then Portland hit another pair of buckets. Zeke had his fourth block of the night, Jokic made a layup as he grabbed a saved ball attempt by the Blazers, Zeke completed the Jokic triple double by dunking home a Nikola assist, and Denver finished off the game with a little more effort than it should have been – but a win is a win. The final score was 132-121.
Final Thoughts
– Jamal Murray is healthy and playing wonderful ball. He had 30 points in the first half on his way to the career-high 55 but it was how he was scoring, how his teammates were looking for him that made the difference. Murray is running free and easy, his body finally able to do the things he is asking of it. The threes were splashing early, the drives were immaculate all game (until he started pressing for the career-high anyway). Playing himself into shape was unfortunately a necessity after resting much of the summer to heal his shin splints, but he looks spry and springy now, just in time for a week-long break to revitalize him for the stretch run. This is the Murray that Denver needs to hang that second banner, and with the incredible year Jokic is having it makes it easy to dream on ultimate success if they can both keep playing like this.
– Perfect time for a break. Yes, Denver is on an eight-game winning streak, but with MPJ, Aaron Gordon and Russell Westbrook all banged up it’s great to let those guys get eight days of extra rest before the remainder of the season begins in earnest. Giving Jokic and Murray and Braun a break as well is crucial before a really tough stretch of their schedule. It’s never great to interrupt a nice win streak but perhaps Denver can just hit the pause button and come back with a much fuller rotation next week. Until then, though: enjoy Cabo everyone (except you Jokic and Strawther, have fun over All-Star Weekend).
