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Nuggets Fall 122-113 to Blazers in Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Motivation was the word of the night. It was the emotion that that was bound to carry one team to an important victory. It was an emotion that Portland channeled best on a couple of levels and led them over the Nuggets.

The Blazers 122-113 win over the Nuggets on Tuesday night was a blow. It’s not fatal to the Nuggets playoff hopes, but their margin of error is razor thin now. Portland has a one-game lead in the loss column, but, in effect, a two-game lead because it now owns all of the tiebreakers against its Northwest Division foes. The Nuggets must win, win often and hope Portland hits a slump in order to climb back into the eighth spot in the Western Conference.

The Blazers’ victory was powered by the duo of C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. They each scored over 30 points and were an inside-out combination that became too much for the Nuggets to handle. Nurkic’s 33 points were a career high. He added 16 rebounds in a game that featured a few players playing against their former teams.

McCollum finished with 39 points.

The Nuggets were hurt in a couple of areas. Tops on the list was on the offensive glass. Portland had 16 offensive rebounds that it turned into 28 second-chance points. The second was closing down space in the lane and in back side pick-and-roll rotations. Portland’s players operated in space a lot, and made good on the shots they took. It wasn’t an exhibition of sharing the ball – the Blazers had just 15 assists on 45 made field goals – they just made good on the opportunities they got.

And that was enough.

The Flow. Points rang up on the scoreboard like a pinball machine. The Nuggets and Blazers missed few scoring opportunities, but it was the visitors’ ability to get to the free throw line that mattered most. The Nuggets were aggressive early and often, getting into the bonus with more than six minutes remaining. That helped offset the sheer volume of shots going up that Portland was making. Wilson Chandler scored 10 first quarter points, and they needed them because Jusuf Nurkic put 13 points, four rebounds on the board in the first 12 minutes. The Nuggets led, however, 35-32.

The Nuggets opened up a seven-point lead in the second quarter as the bench came in and played well. That was led by Kenneth Faried and Will Barton. Faried helped the Nuggets get control of rebounding, and Barton just filled up the score sheet. Nuggets coach Michael Malone got the starters back in, but Portland was the team that took off soon thereafter. The Blazers hit Denver with a 10-0 run, but the Nuggets answered with an 8-0 run of their own. Stopping Nurkic continued to be a problem, though. The center finished the half with 21 points and eight rebounds. The Nuggets were down 66-64 at the break.

Damian Lillard got into the scoring in the third quarter, and his production was just added to Nurkic and McCollum, who continued to roll. The Nuggets didn’t go away, though, and had the game tied at 75 with 7:37 to play in the third. Portland busted out on a 14-3 run and took a seven-point lead. That became a 12-point lead. The Nuggets settled into a 10-point deficit going into the fourth. The Blazers simply held the Nuggets off in the fourth quarter. It was never a blowout, but the Nuggets couldn’t slice into the lead in a meaningful way that threatened the outcome.

Deciding run. A 10-3 run late in the third quarter took a five-point Portland lead and pushed it to 12. That was enough of a cushion for the Blazers to protect.

What it means. The Nuggets are now forced to win almost every night out and hope Portland loses enough to overtake the lead for the better record in order to make the playoffs.

Nuggets standouts. The Nuggets had six players in double-figure scoring, led by Jameer Nelson’s 23 points. Gary Harris added 19 points and Nikola Jokic had 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Stat of the game. 2: Nurkic and McCollum were the first two teammates to score at least 30 points against the Nuggets in the same game since Nov. 27 this season, when Devin Booker and Eric Bledsoe both eclipsed 30 points. The Nuggets won that game, however.

Next. The Nuggets get two days off before returning to action on Friday at Charlotte, the second game of this five-game road trip.