Blazers Fall To Nuggets In Thrilling Final Seconds

Portland lost another one-point game as Norman Powell's game-winning floater fell just off the mark in the final seconds.

Notes, observations, analysis, clips and more from the Trail Blazers' last-second 106-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night at Moda Center.

• The Blazers had one timeout left when Robert Covington secured a runaway loose ball with six reconds remaining, his team trailing the Nuggets by one. C.J. McCollum was to his right, the only thing between he and the basket a retreating Nikola Jokic. A cross-court bounce pass to McCollum was risky, so Covington shuffled the ball back to a sprinting Norman Powell as the game clock ticked below four seconds. Powell is a blur in the open floor, an accomplished transition finisher capable of an array of finishes at the rim. The numbers were in Portland's favor, and Damian Lillard was barely across halfcourt, face-guarded by Aaron Gordon. Powell, of course, missed a tough baseline runner over Jokic just before time expired, sending the Blazers to another one-point loss – their third in the last five games. The crucial question many will ask: Should Terry Stotts have called timeout, giving Portland the chance to put the ball in the hands of basketball's best closer? There's no right or wrong answer, but it's worth reminding that many coaches are of the belief attacking a scrambling defense – especially with a head of steam – is almost always the best option as the clock winds down and the game hangs in the balance. Powell is the Blazers' best transition player, and it's not like Lillard had it going. Stotts will face heat for his decision, but he'd undoubtedly be receiving praise if Powell's floater had fallen through.

• An outlier stat from a game featuring other team-wide box score numbers that were remarkably similar: Denver's 16 offensive rebounds, compared to just nine for the Blazers. Jusuf Nurkic and Enes Kanter did their jobs, but Portland's guards couldn't match the impact of their counterparts on the offensive boards, at least partially due to the stress double-teaming Jokic put on the defense. PJ Dozier grabbed three of his teammates misses, and pint-sized Facundo Campazzo came down with two offensive boards of his own.
• The Blazers' defensive rating was 100.3 in the second half, an impressive showing somewhat accounted for by the Nuggets' labors from the perimeter. But a key adjustment played a major factor in Portland's second-half defense, too. Instead of letting Jokic launch open threes or attack rushed close-outs from Nurkic and Kanter in pick-and-pop action, the Blazers fully committed to switching the ball handler's man onto the league's MVP frontrunner. Letting Jokic go to work one-on-one against pretty much any defender is a losing proposition, but especially clear mismatches. Portland sent doubles at Jokic instead, confident Denver's depleted supporting cast couldn't make the defense pay or manage consistently efficient offense. It didn't always work, naturally, Jokic sometimes scoring easily and others finding cutting teammates for layups. But the Blazers' lacking defensive personnel makes gambits like that necessary, and this one was implemented with the aggression and communication required to make it an overall success. Well, at least until the game's final possessions, when Portland went away from switching pick-and-pops – a choice that helped net Jokic two crucial free throws.

• Rondae Hollis-Jefferson didn't play on Wednesday, despite Derrick Jones Jr. being a late scratch due to a right hip contusion. Another reason why one thought he might get a try against Denver? The switching approach mentioned above, a perfect fit for Hollis-Jefferson's defensive exploits as a small-ball center. Portland, in fact, didn't play small at all save for a few select possessions. 
• Powell didn't have the ironclad reputation of a positive defender during his time with the Toronto Raptors, and Wednesday's game showed why. He was beaten backdoor by Michael Porter Jr. on multiple occasions in the first quarter, simply getting caught watching the ball away from the play – a death-knell against a team like Denver. Powell was back-screened by Jokic in semi-transition, too, dying on the pick as Porter rose to catch an alley-oop from Will Barton. Not all of Porter's 17 first-quarter points – on perfect 8-of-8 shooting, by the way – came at the direct expense of Powell. The Nuggets' budding star abused McCollum a couple times as well. But it's no coincidence that Porter cooled down after the opening period, when Powell no doubt got an earful from the coaching staff and Portland spent more time switching one-through-four. There were also a couple times Powell was late to switch when Jokic popped to the arc after setting ball screens, freeing him for open threes. The book on Powell in Toronto was that he's a solid enough individual defender, but can struggle to execute team concepts. We saw it on Wednesday, especially early.

• Lillard, who emphasized pre-game how fresh he feels physically and mentally after a week nursing nagging injuries, certainly had plenty of athletic pop against the Nuggets. He got to the rim for a handful of difficult finishes, including a high-flying first-quarter bucket that briefly appeared as if Lillard was going for a poster dunk on Jokic. The problem for Lillard is that his jumper betrayed him, going 2-of-10 from three-point range and 2-of-5 on long twos. Lillard wasn't anywhere near his best on Wednesday, but showed no signs of lingering physical discomfort – maybe the single-most-important takeaway from this game. If just one or two more of his jumpers had fallen, Lillard and the Blazers leave Moda Center victorious.

Impressive Dame. Very impressive pic.twitter.com/7aspTURZPB

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) April 22, 2021

Next up: home vs. Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, 7:00 p.m. (PST)