Game 1 Rd 2 Portland vs Denver TNT

[Matt800]

I thought POR played worse than they did in game 3 which was a 12 point loss, so to me that might suggest OKC was a harder team than DEN is. Who knows though, POR still has to play better.

The elevation is my concern. We literally have no option but to win out at Moda in this series and that Rarely happens

I don't know I don't think that is really much of a concern. It might give the nuggets a little bit more of a home court advantage, but I don't think it is a big difference. When athletes try to use altitude to improve at their sport, the idea is to spend as much time as possible at an altitude around 8000ft and train around or below 4000 ft to get maximal benefit. The nuggets are traveling all over, and they aren't necessarily living in Denver in the off season. They probably don't have much of an advantage from the altitude. There may be some advantage, but I don't think it is large.

[d-train]

The 1st game is usually the best chance to steal home court advantage. Now we have to win 3 in a row to have the advantage after 4.

[The Sebastian Express]

The real pain of this series is all the **** talking Eric Millegan is doing in the general board thread and how that's going to be thrown in our faces.

[zzaj]

I thought POR played worse than they did in game 3 which was a 12 point loss, so to me that might suggest OKC was a harder team than DEN is. Who knows though, POR still has to play better.

The elevation is my concern. We literally have no option but to win out at Moda in this series and that Rarely happens

I don't know I don't think that is really much of a concern. It might give the nuggets a little bit more of a home court advantage, but I don't think it is a big difference. When athletes try to use altitude to improve at their sport, the idea is to spend as much time as possible at an altitude around 8000ft and train around or below 4000 ft to get maximal benefit. The nuggets are traveling all over, and they aren't necessarily living in Denver in the off season. They probably don't have much of an advantage from the altitude. There may be some advantage, but I don't think it is large.

It’s a huge deal. I posted an article elsewhere, but a simple google search will show you how big a deal players make of it. Denver always has one of the better home records across all sports.

[Revived]

Imagine the slaughter this game would be if Kanter was too hurt to play?

Imagine the slaughter this game would have been if Nurkic (who knows all of Jokic's strengths and weaknesses) was available to play?

[Wizenheimer]

CJ 16 points on 17 shots; Aminu-Mo-Seth-Zach-Meyers-ET 15 points on 17 shots. When you play 10 guys and 7 of them combine for 31 points on 34 shots you'll likely lose a road game, especially in the playoffs. Dame outscored those 7 guys by 8 points on 13 fewer shots...yeeeeeeeesh!

only 3 guys, Dame Enes & Hood showed up tonight...not enough

Dame had 6 turnovers but what I saw was that he was fouled into turnovers 3 times. The Nuggets were allowed to bump, grind, hip-check and push Lillard whenever he drove.

all that said...I'll play the optimist: this game reminded me a lot of the 1st game in OKC. The opponent was knocking down shots all over the floor, getting plenty of home-cooking whistles, and getting all the breaks.

but Portland corrected things in the next game and won going away in the 4th. Wasn't close.

will history repeat?

[Moonbeam]

I think both teams have advantages they will continue to exploit going forward. Nobody can stop Dame. Nobody can stop Jokic. Portland probably won't get a game that good out of Hood and Kanter, but they can probably count on CJ, Harkless, and Aminu being collectively better than they were in this game. I feel like Portland can win a game in Denver. It will be tough, but I don't think it's some insurmountable thing in any game.

[The Sebastian Express]

I think both teams have advantages they will continue to exploit going forward. Nobody can stop Dame. Nobody can stop Jokic. Portland probably won't get a game that good out of Hood and Kanter, but they can probably count on CJ, Harkless, and Aminu being collectively better than they were in this game. I feel like Portland can win a game in Denver. It will be tough, but I don't think it's some insurmountable thing in any game.

I actually think we might be able to see repeat performances by Kanter, shoulder health depending. He averaged 17/10 against them over three games in the regular season.

[Moonbeam]

I think both teams have advantages they will continue to exploit going forward. Nobody can stop Dame. Nobody can stop Jokic. Portland probably won't get a game that good out of Hood and Kanter, but they can probably count on CJ, Harkless, and Aminu being collectively better than they were in this game. I feel like Portland can win a game in Denver. It will be tough, but I don't think it's some insurmountable thing in any game.

I actually think we might be able to see repeat performances by Kanter, shoulder health depending. He averaged 17/10 against them over three games in the regular season.

I think I'd agree with a healthy Kanter. But the banging in this series can't be good for his shoulder. Hope he continues to be a bright spot!

[Matt800]

The elevation is my concern. We literally have no option but to win out at Moda in this series and that Rarely happens

I don't know I don't think that is really much of a concern. It might give the nuggets a little bit more of a home court advantage, but I don't think it is a big difference. When athletes try to use altitude to improve at their sport, the idea is to spend as much time as possible at an altitude around 8000ft and train around or below 4000 ft to get maximal benefit. The nuggets are traveling all over, and they aren't necessarily living in Denver in the off season. They probably don't have much of an advantage from the altitude. There may be some advantage, but I don't think it is large.

It’s a huge deal. I posted an article elsewhere, but a simple google search will show you how big a deal players make of it. Denver always has one of the better home records across all sports.

It may be harder to play in Denver but what I am saying is it is also harder for the Nuggets because they do not spend all their time in Denver. The Nuggets may have some advantage, but I don't think it is huge. There was a study that said it is about a 10% drop in the bodies ability to consume oxygen at Denver's altitude, and about a 20% faster rate of fatigue. That article said to adjust to Denver's air you'd need to be there for 9 straight days. Which the Nuggets would rarely have that apply for them to have an advantage. They probably are more familiar with the feeling of playing at altitude and know how to take care of themselves to get decent sleep, stay hydrated, and not overwork themselves. So they do have some advantage, but it isn't like they spend all their time in Denver to get the full advantage.

[NuggetsWY]

I was a little concerned before the game.
I was more concerned during the first half.
I still believe the Nuggets win the series, but ... well, I'm glad I don't gamble.

[The Sebastian Express]

For the record, I don't think we'll win the series. We're down our second best player, even winning the first round was a major surprise so anything else is just icing on the cake that turned out unexpectedly well. It just gets frustrating when the situation is compounded by unfortunate reffing, feels like piling on, so that just leads to a lot of venting.

[Sinobas]

Blazers lose by 8, but off the top of my head I can think of terrible calls that would more than make up for that difference.

CJ's 3 point play that was called on the floor, Milsap getting a phantom and 1 a few plays earlier, Kanter pushed out of bounds as he goes up for a shot, phantom calls on Aminu and Dame...

[bigdavid]

I hope somehow we find a way to get two forwards this winter. Aminu can't dribble can't pass questionable defense and is good at ?????????. Harkless a real disappointment. Left unguarded can't shot a 3 gets flustered and fouls.Also when upset seems to give up.

I know it seems foul calls always seem against us and in many cases are, However we must play through them I wish Stotts would complain more, get angry take a tech once in a while. He always seems so stoic.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I know it seems foul calls always seem against us and in many cases are, However we must play through them I wish Stotts would complain more, get angry take a tech once in a while. He always seems so stoic.

Besides game 3, I don't think the calls were against us in the first round. Hopefully that gives me a bit more credit when I say that the second half of this game was pretty brutal towards us. Felt like every time we breathed on Jokic he would go to the line, even when he smashed his face into Kanter's shoulder.

[Wizenheimer]

some responses to posts made here:

* the whistles for and against CJ...those are the rules. When he was fouled, it was before the 'gather'. That's the rule...I don't like the new rule that much but it's essentially a response to Harden and a couple of players like him that gamed the and+1 calls and became expert at fishing for shooting fouls. As far as the flagrant, again it was the correct call. The rules say the defender does have a specific responsibility to avoid contact with the head and face of an opponent. If a Denver player had made the same speculative swing at where he thought the ball might be and instead hit Kanter in the face and eyes, it would have been a flagrant as well (all that's not to say that Portland didn't get the short end in the questionable officiating calls, especially in regard to Jokic vs Dame...but welcome to HCA)

* Portland's starting forwards: against OKC, Aminu and Harkless combined to average 22 points, 14 rebounds, & 2.4 blocks with only 2 turnovers. Last night they combined for 4 points and 6 turnovers....ouch! They probably couldn't have played worse.

the issue is that both of them are role players in starting roles. That's a guarantee of inconsistency. And looking at the lists of NBA PF's and SF's, I can count at least 25-30 (or more) who are better offensively at each position. Mo and Aminu's defense climb them up the list a little but not as far as Portland needs. And sometimes they get burned defensively like Aminu vs Millsap tonight. Aminu and Harkless have been the starters for 4 years now and the reason they start is because over 4 off-seasons and 4 trade deadlines, Portland has failed to find any better alternatives. I sure hope for the rest of the series they can play better than last night, but expecting any offensive consistency may be unrealistic

[Sinobas]

CJ was going up for the shot as he was fouled...and just a few plays before Milsap got an And 1 and was not even fouled at all...if they were going to call a foul on aminu for stnding there as Milsap backed into him, that call should have been on the floor too.

Damian/Kanter/Hood played well enough to earn the victory for Portland if the refs hadn't skewed the outcome.

[Epicurus]

I know that this is crying over spilt milk, but the Blazers need a strong PF to defend against other strong PFs. The Blazers had one but gave him a way to save some dollars and thinking perhaps it had another one in the slow footed and no lift Swanigan. Maybe one more offseason and the Blazer's Haitian will become that guy. Aminu tries but just doesn't have it against heavier and stronger bigs.

[DaVoiceMaster]

I'm optimistic about this series. Denver shot really well and the ref's played a role in the game that favored Denver. CJ disappeared in the second half. Aminu and Harkless were non-existant offensively. Yet the Blazers only lost by 8.