Portland at Denver
Time: 8 PM CT (NBA LP)
Spread: DEN -4.5
Total: 219.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
Portland Notes:
The Trail Blazers are now drawing consideration for being the possessors of the NBA’s best backcourt. Lillard and C.J. McCollum are two high-scoring interchangeable pieces in the backcourt that function as well as any other in the NBA. Sure, there is the tandem of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry in Golden State, but outside of that, and possibly Washington’s Bradley Beal and John Wall…and Chris Paul and James Harden in Houston…Okay, you get the point:
There are a lot of great backcourts, and Portland’s pairing is right up there with all of them.
What is not there in great abundance is front court talent and depth. Jusuf Nurkic is a very good starting center, but he seldom plays huge minutes. Behind him, the Blazers turn to either an inept Meyers Leonard or a rookie in Zach Collins.
The recourse for Portland is often just to go small, and play Al-Farouq Aminu at the 4-spot. Aminu posts a humble nine points and seven rebounds per game, but is a staunch defender who brings a lot of intangibles to the table. Similar things can be said about Maurice Harkless. The Blazers also have some good playmakers off the bench in the form of Shabazz Napier and Evan Turner, but depth remains a concern with so many other teams sporting high powered benches.
Even so, Portland is a team that will ride Lillard. He is averaging 27 points per game this season and is fearless and confident in crunch time. While Portland may not be a true contender quite yet, it more than has the makings of becoming one, which is astounding considering the team gutted four of its five starters when LaMarcus Aldridge split for San Antonio. Since that time, Portland has done nothing but add the right role players to play around Lillard, while handing him the keys to the franchise. While Lillard is not tearing up the court, he is dropping great rap. What is not to like about “Dame D.O.L.L.A.?” Perhaps this postseason will be his chance to take the great stage and amass yet more fans as Portland continues to make its climb towards actual contention in the upcoming seasons.
NUGGETS NEWS AND NOTES:
The Denver Nuggets have won five of its last 10 games but are just 12-23 on the road this season. Denver ultimately will face a team with that homeport disadvantage, in the first round, so that does not bode well if the Nuggets cannot find a way to win away from the Pepsi Center in Denver (where it has gone 27-10, conversely).
Denver is a team that many have suggested need a point guard, but the Nuggets rank No. 6 in offensive rating in the NBA, and they get it done through the sharp (and sometimes wizardly) passing of center Nikola Jokic. Jokic leads the Nuggets in assists per game with 5.5, which ultimately reduces the playmaking load of Denver’s bevy of shooting guards. The team really has no true point guard on its roster, though
The Nuggets as a team post 24.1 assists per game with 14.7 turnovers per night, so to criticize the team’s success on the base of its offense would be incorrect.?Defensively is where the Nuggets need the most improvement.
Denver ranks just No. 21 in defensive rating and Jokic is part of the issue there, strangely. While the center is a demon with the ball in his hands, he is slowly rotating and the Nuggets seem to prefer to almost never use Kenneth Faried, who is a defensive game changer at times. Denver has some tradeable pieces, and Mason Plumlee leaves plenty to be desired defensively, too.
Even so, the Nuggets are a high scoring team that can play with the league’s dominant teams and steal occasional wins, it is just probably in need of a better secondary playmaker to play with Jokic—and also probably a defensive forward who can “quarterback” its defense to call it switches and better the defensive communication.
