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On ESPN tonight, first matchup of the season. Rematch of last year's 2nd round of the playoffs, seems like this could be a grudge match for this season !

Projected Starting lineups

C Nikola Jokic
PF Paul Millsap
SF Will Barton
SG Gary Harris
PG Jamal Murray

C Hassan Whiteside
PF Zach Collins
SF Rodney Hood
SG CJ McCollum
PG Damian Lillard

Analysis: Lillard and McCollum are a top 3 backcourt, either are capable of taking over a game. DEN has the advantage at both C and PF while SF seems to be had by the SF who get the upper hand, both are wildcards.
DEN's bench will be tonight's difference as the Blazers will be without Pau tonight, DEN has it's full compliment of players IMO. We took both preseason games, I expect the Nuggets to win again tonight, a good start to a promising season.

Maybe Barton or maybe Craig starting a small forward. Thanks for starting the thread.

Glad seeing these game threads again. Nugs basketball is back!

Sooner or later, I hope to see MPJ starting over Barton.

In Denver - we should expect to win every home game this year (we won't, but we should expect to).
Agree with Skywalker, bigs favor us. Wings/guards are where this game will be won or lost. I don't expect it to be based on our offense but on our defense. Portland is a smalls-dominant team.

I expect a win.

Things to watch:

- Hasan Whiteside transition to Portland system.

- Jeramy Grant transition to Denver system.
- Will Denver start to play more motivated on road games than it was case during Malone era previously
- Will MPJ or Juancho get at least 15 minutes tonight

Game started with Barton turnover and Jokic three fouls in opening 4 minutes. What a perfect way to start the season.

Sloppy Game !!

We are super deep. 10 starter level players. That is going to kill most of our opponents this season with their 2nd units being hopeless against our.

BTW I want to cry watching how we shooting 3pts tonight, comparing to Game-7 last season.

Millsap calming the guys down

Joker is playing a great game in the second half.

Jokic scores 20 in a half, probably making up for the 3 fouls in the first qtr. Very obvious GHarris was all kinds of out of sort this game. Barton's game looked like stat-stuffing but really helped us out in the 4th. Craig surprised me with his 3-pt shots, kept MPJ on the bench IMO. LIked what I saw from Grant and Millsap. Nice 3-pt shooting tonight !!

As I stated, very sloppy game, too many TO's and PF's for my liking, but a win on the road against POR is a good way to start the season. One down 71 to go !!

Impressed with the road win but not with our play.
Not impressed by our defense but Lillard & McCollum were 15-39 and that was important.
Our bench was 13-26 while their bench was 6-22 --- might be common this year.
Barton wasn't too bad but I like Craig's game better overall.

If I were an opposing coach, I would play a pick-n-roll offense against us. Our centers try to cover the guards too tight and end up watching them head to the basket unopposed. I wish our defensive scheme on pick-n-roll included more help from the wings.

Swapping out Jokic late in the game makes a whole lot more sense when Grant comes in than when Plumlee comes in.

This was a tough game to watch until the end. Denver's commitment to the Golden State offense could not be more apparent after the barrage of 3 point shots that reigned down. Craig and Barton could hit them, Harris and Murray not so much.

Millsap looks rejuvenated. Grant fits. Plumlee even played well. This team through its bench showed excellent depth when Jokic had to leave in the 1st period.

Jokic controlled the end of the game when Portland made it close. It's hard to believe that he finished with 20 points after not scoring in the first half due to foul trouble. The view of him as an all star continues.

TunaFish wrote:Jokic controlled the end of the game when Portland made it close. It's hard to believe that he finished with 20 points after not scoring in the first half due to foul trouble. The view of him as an all star continues.

Interestingly enough, I still don't believe most of the league view him as a superstar though

Well, win at Portland is really, really nice. Portland is pretty tough at their arena. Must say I was really upset with Harris game. I am kind of undecided if I wouldn't rather see him gone and Beasley starting so game like this sure didn't help. And what about MPJ? Injured again? I don't watch summer league or pre season, waste of time for me, so I was really excited to finally having a chance to watch him and nothing again. Don't know if that is the new trend or abnormality but Jokic??? No waving hands with frustration, no yelling at refs, just concentrated on game?!? That was really promising to see. This AND those two threes that murdered Blazers hopes.

And defensive effort was impresive I'd say. Some troubles with blocking out for rebounds, sure.

Maf wrote:Well, win at Portland is really, really nice. Portland is pretty tough at their arena. Must say I was really upset with Harris game. I am kind of undecided if I wouldn't rather see him gone and Beasley starting so game like this sure didn't help. And what about MPJ? Injured again? I don't watch summer league or pre season, waste of time for me, so I was really excited to finally having a chance to watch him and nothing again. Don't know if that is the new trend or abnormality but Jokic??? No waving hands with frustration, no yelling at refs, just concentrated on game?!? That was really promising to see. This AND those two threes that murdered Blazers hopes.

And defensive effort was impresive I'd say. Some troubles with blocking out for rebounds, sure.

Gotta agree about Gary Harris, his game really has been in fluctuation since his last injury and we're really not paying him for that kinda effort....although it is just game 1 out of 82, chemistry doesn't always happen overnight.

Great point on Jokic, he didn't seem flustered like he has in the past. In fact he seemed invigorated by it, scoring 20pts in just a half, taking it upon himselfas a kind of pentence IMO. Just imagine if he had that kind of focus throughout the game, people would forget about AD and Embiid.

skywalker33 wrote:Jokic scores 20 in a half, probably making up for the 3 fouls in the first qtr. Very obvious GHarris was all kinds of out of sort this game. Barton's game looked like stat-stuffing but really helped us out in the 4th. Craig surprised me with his 3-pt shots, kept MPJ on the bench IMO. LIked what I saw from Grant and Millsap. Nice 3-pt shooting tonight !!

As I stated, very sloppy game, too many TO's and PF's for my liking, but a win on the road against POR is a good way to start the season. One down 71 to go !!

He is indeed a stat-stuffer. Never seen someone try harder to get the ball at the end to get 6 FTs. But, hey, it worked.

Why are we still starting Barton? Will it again be the token 30 games before Malone changes something?

Alatan wrote:Why are we still starting Barton? Will it again be the token 30 games before Malone changes something?

Well, the actual coach thinks he's the best option at the moment. He did have the best preseason IMO and until one of the other players steps up, he's gotta go with who he thinks is the best option (or until he's traded).