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Yes, the Blazers have some injured players. But that does not mean the Nuggets can overlook them.

Lillard is still tough to stop and they play a pretty good team game. Their bench is where they're going to be struggling.

What has happened to GHarris' shooting ??

I wonder why Monte Morris only got 13 minutes tonight.

More Craig, less Barton. I love this.

I believe Nuggets are 12-3 when Barton takes 9 or less shots. I'm taking that statistic and running with it lol

Jokic in triple-double mode, Murray 20+ all-around game, almost perfect shooting night for Millsap, one of best Craig games, Beasley+Morris efficient as usual, Lillard was stopped... but this was still a tight game!? Blame Malone! The team marched to another routine home win when Malone suddenly sits down Jokic after just 4 minutes in the 2nd half, and Portland has 14-2 run. He wanted rest Jokic tonight, but he pushed the button too early and at the end, he is forced Joker to play last 15 minutes (excluding last 15 seconds, to prevent him to achieve triple-double ). But to be fair, Malone deserves credit for great managing Barton playing time minutes in the 2nd half.

Nurkic and McCollum are missed, but Lillard is NBA TOP5 guard, Kanter is an offensively great addition after ASG, and Turner suddenly started to play career-best basketball, and we are not the same team on the road, so the team needs to give their best to beat Blazers in Portland next game in most important season's game in terms of securing WC 2nd seed.

Not an impressive win but a very satisfying win. They definitely outplayed Portland, but only in stretches. That's not unusual in the NBA.

Four starters plus Craig all had decent offense. Plumlee had a solid backup game. Better on defense than offense. Harris expended a lot of energy covering Lillard, but it was really a team effort.

Jokic had zero fouls in the first half and picked up three fouls in three minutes to start the second half. So Malone had to sit him down. His tendency to make little fouls, can be a real problem.

Winning this game means the Nuggets win the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Reason enough to celebrate for all Denver fans.

At the same time, Barton does not look the same and that is reason enough to be concerned. If there is a button to be pushed that could get him going, this Nuggets team would have the fire power to be really special. Let's hope for the best.

Not gonna win this one:

I just hope Vanderbilt gets 20-25 minutes.