NBA Playoffs: Portland Trail Blazers vs. Denver Nuggets Game 2 Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Portland Trail Blazers have stunned the Denver Nuggets making a break already in the first matchup of their playoff series. The guests from Oregon outshot the Nuggets in Game 1, securing themselves a good start of the postseason and, more importantly, a massive morale boost ahead of the future battles. However, we have to expect some sort of a reaction coming from the other side. The Nuggets were looking surprisingly dull in the offense while also not being able to defend the long-distance shooting on the other side of the floor.

Preview

Portland Trail Blazers (-105) looked magnificent last night in Denver. Their offense was working like a Swiss watch, with all the involved players making a big contribution. We won’t speak too much about the starting lineup here, but two guys who entered off the bench – Anfernee Simmons and Carmelo Anthony.

They would combine for 32 points and eight threes in 13 attempts (four each) which was of massive help for the Trail Blazers in certain situations. Overall, Terry Stotts’ side shot from deep very well, 19-for-40, and every time they had problems in the attack, the long-distance hits were there to solve the problem.

Also, they played solid defense on Jokic, allowing him to score but preventing him from organizing the Nuggets’ attacks, with the Joker posting just one assist throughout the entire match. However, there was one worrying thing – rebounding. The Blazers had just 39 rebounds, which is way too low for a playoff game.

Denver Nuggets (-125) were limited in offense to just two players (Jokic, Porter Jr.) plus Aaron Gordon, whose primary assignment isn’t to score points but to play good defense and control the glass on both ends.

Jokic had 34 buckets with 16 rebounds but with just one assist. Now, that is unacceptable for the Nuggets, and if they want to win, that needs to change. The reason for that is solid pass-defense on the Joker, and poor execution of his teammates, especially MPJ, who, even though had 25 points, made just one three in ten tries.

Austin Rivers had 6 points, Campazzo 8, meaning that the Nuggets’ starting backcourt didn’t influence the matters on the floor. Monte Morris added 10 off the bench, but overall, there was a massive imbalance between their and Portland’s productivity.

Head to Head Games

The result during the season series was 2-1 for the Nuggets. However, the Trail Blazers now have two victories in a row. Needless to say that Saturday’s one, 123-109, is the most important one. Lillard had 34 points and 13 dimes, McCollum 21, while Nurk scored 16 with 12 boards.

Prediction

This is risky, but we are going with the Nuggets in this match. It would be too much for them to lose three times in a row against the Trail Blazers. And not just that, falling behind two games would mean that their season is pretty much over, so they need to come out with the highest possible sense of urgency. Otherwise, Michael Malone’s crew could end up in a troubling situation. The risk is there, but we have to follow our hunch.

Pick: Denver Wins