Nikola Jokic leads the Blazers

After a doubleheader at home over Dallas, the Blazers traveled to the Rockies, where a snowstorm didn’t stop local fans from making it to the arena. And they did well, as their team won its 14th straight at home (122-113) behind a new triple-double from Nikola Jokic (36 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists).

On the contrary, Damian Lillard did not spare his horse, scoring 44 points along with 8 assists. The Blazers leader already had 30 units at halftime, but his team did not respond with Anfernee Simons (14 points on 5/15 shooting) and Jusuf Nurkic clearly dominating his former teammate Jokic.

It was at the end of the third quarter that the Nuggets could really create a decisive gap under the momentum of the good Michael Porter Jr. (23 points). Along with him, Jamal Murray (17 points, 7 assists) or Aaron Gordon (11 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds) also performed in their roles, which was not really the case with the “support staff” from Portland.

Chauncey Billups bit the dust from his eighth straight loss outside of his troops to return home to Denver, where he inaugurated a room named after him at his former high school …

WHAT TO REMEMBER

– Nuggets still dominate at home. We know the Nuggets have “natural” home advantage, with the elevation of the Mile High City. But Denver also adds to the effort. Without coach Mike Malone, who was placed in isolation, the Nuggets won their 14th straight at home, improving their home record to 20-3. Another compelling stat: The Nuggets are undefeated (13-0) when Jokic hits a triple!

– Very lonely Lillard. It was already one of the fears at the start of the season, and it’s been confirmed as the months have passed: Is Lillard wasting his talent in the solitude of Portland? The superstar guard, who is in great form right now, lacked scoring support, while Jusuf Nurkic (6 points), Josh Hart (4 points) or his lieutenants Simons and Grant were too clumsy.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Nikola Jokic. After his triple-double, including the win against Orlando, Jokic continued with a new high performance against Portland tonight: 36 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists! The two-time MVP finishes an abysmal 13/14 in shooting, his only loss coming from behind the arc, plus a terrible 9/10 in shooting, a 54 rating!

✅ Damian Lillard. Lillard, who already had 30 points and 8-of-12 shooting at halftime, finished with 44 points and 8 assists for his sixth consecutive game above 30. Unfortunately, his teammates didn’t really support him and he gave up in the second half (14 points).

✅ Aaron Gordon. While Michael Porter confirms his resurgence with 23 points, we still prefer to highlight Gordon’s “all over” performance, which shines strongly alongside the Joker. With 11 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists, the former Magic finally made Jokic smooth his team’s game.

⛔ Yusuf Nurkic. If he started the fight with a 3-pointer, Nurkic was quite composed then, Jokic made a good catch, and the latter (again) sang to him on the other side of the court. Overwhelmed by direct opposition, two-time MVP Nurkic finished a paltry 2/9 on the field for 6 points, 10 rebounds and 4 stray shots (and 5 fouls)…

⛔ Anfernee Simons. Simons was 2/10 from 3-point range and 5/15 overall. With 14 points scored for 15 shot attempts, the ratio is clearly not ideal, far from it!

NEXT

Denver (31-13) : reception of monsters tonight.

Portland (21-23) : The start of a six-game home series against Philly on Thursday.