Trail Blazers lose to Denver Nuggets after Portland starts five rookies.
The defending champions are 14-2 since the All-Star Break and have won eight of the previous nine games.
Written by Associated Press
Published on March 24, 2024, at 6:58 AM MDT
Updated on March 24, 2024, at 6:58 AM MDT
Portland, Oregon — The Denver Nuggets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 114-111 on Saturday night behind the 23-point performance of Reggie Jackson and the 22-point and 12-rebound performance of Aaron Gordon.
On a night when the Blazers became the second club to start five rookies since NBA box scores began tracking starters in the 1971–72 season, the Nuggets prevailed without their star combination of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
The defending champions are 14-2 since the All-Star Break and have won eight of the previous nine games.
The Nuggets’ coach, Michael Malone, stated, “Anytime you can win a game without Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, especially on the road, you’re going to take that.” “I’m happy with our team for persevering through it. Give them credit; they had a lot of energy after the break and quickly caught up to us.
We didn’t play any defense in the third quarter, but we produced enough plays in the closing minutes to win.”
With 24 points, rookie Duop Reath led the Trail Blazers. The Blazers suffered their sixth consecutive loss despite Scoot Henderson, the third overall selection in last year’s draft, finishing with 22 points and six assists.
The largest advantage for Denver was 15.
Regarding Denver’s determination in the second half, Jackson remarked, “When we called timeout, our leaders of the team were taking over the huddle making sure we were locked in.” “We just wanted to get stops, stop offensive rebounds and just make sure we got good shots.”
With 2:04 left, Porter’s 3-pointer gave the Nuggets a 109-98 lead. Reath then launched Portland’s last run of points. With 50.5 seconds remaining, the Blazers forced a turnover and Toumani Camara’s layup trimmed the lead to 109-105.
Jackson’s layup gave the Nuggets a 111-105 lead. With 27 seconds left, Henderson made a basket in response to tie the score at 111-107.
Jackson split a pair of free throws before Henderson converted a layup with ten seconds remaining to make the score 112-109. Gordon missed two foul shots of his own, but Henderson converted another one to make the score 113-111.
With 1.9 seconds remaining, Jackson was fouled by Portland and made one of two free throws, but Kris Murray’s full-court heave to tie the game was unsuccessful.
Portland scored six 3-pointers in the third quarter to tie the game after going 0 for 11 from outside the arc in the first half.
With 1.9 seconds remaining, Jackson was fouled by Portland and made one of two free throws, but Kris Murray’s full-court heave to tie the game was unsuccessful.
Portland scored six 3-pointers in the third quarter to tie the game after going 0 for 11 from outside the arc in the first half.
Regarding Portland’s shooting, Henderson remarked, “I think some of the ones we took in the first half weren’t the ones that we wanted.” “I believe that we were really finding that shot in the second half, entering the paint and kicking out. After touching up some paint, we sprayed threes.”
Before the fourth quarter, Denver’s advantage was 85-83 thanks to a free shot from Dalano Banton.
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