Pregame: Trail Blazers Visit Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets On Tough Back-to-Back

Less than 24 hours after getting blown out by the Phoenix Suns, the Trail Blazers tipoff against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.

Opponent: Denver Nuggets (16-14 overall, 4-6 last 10 games)

Offensive Rating: 115.5 (ninth)
Defensive Rating: 114.0 (20th)
Net Rating: +1.5 (14th)

Where: Ball Arena (Denver)
When: 7:00 p.m. (PST)
Broadcast: TNT

Point Spread: Denver -6
Moneyline: Denver -260, Portland +215
Over/Under: 132

Injuries

• Denver: PJ Dozier (out), Gary Harris (out), JaMychal Green (out), Paul Millsap (out)
• Portland: Zach Collins (out), Harry Giles (out), C.J. McCollum (out), Jusuf Nurkic (out)

Primer: At least the Trail Blazers seemed like they had some viable defensive matchups for Devin Booker. The same certainly can't be said for Nikola Jokic, especially with not just Nurkic out of the lineup, but Giles, too. As currently constructed, Portland may be less equipped to deal with Denver's MVP candidate than any team in basketball.

Enes Kanter was far too slow check Jokic even before the latter entered this season in the best shape of his career. That weight loss hasn't stopped Jokic from mashing lighter defenders like Robert Covington in the post, either. Even good primary defense and timely help often doesn't matter against a shot-maker of Jokic's unique caliber.

Jokic's slim physique, improvement as a jump-shooter and an increased sense of aggression has taken his game to a new level as a scorer this season, but it's still his passing ability that's most dangerous. There isn't a more intuitive or dazzling playmaker in the league right now, and Michael Malone has taken advantage by letting Jokic take complete control of Denver's offense as a primary offensive hub – whether as a pick-and-roll ball handler, elbow creator, secondary-transition initiator and more.

It's tough to imagine Terry Stotts will begin Tuesday's contest with Kanter on Jokic, but it's not like Covington is a much better option. The best of a lot of bad ones for Portland might be doubling Jokic on every post touch, or even switching smalls onto him in pick-and-roll and sending extra defenders at him from there. 

Jokic will make the right passing read every time, regularly finding easy looks for his teammates no one else sees coming. But the injury-ravaged Blazers have caught the Nuggets on an unfortunate health kick of their own, with two starters and two key reserves sidelined. Maybe Portland can commit more attention to Jokic and get away with it, hopeful deep-reserve replacements like rookies Zeke Nnaji and R.J. Hampton won't make the defense pay. 

A player who probably will is Jamal Murray, playing his best basketball of the season and just a game removed from dropping 50 points on 25 shots against Cleveland. Expect Gary Trent Jr. and Derrick Jones Jr. to be tasked with chasing Murray through a maze of on and off-ball screens and cuts, allowing Damian Lillard at least some measure of rest when he's not single-handedly driving the Blazers' offense.

Bottom Line: The Nuggets are ailing, but not enough to compensate for the Blazers' weary legs and hopeless matchups for Jokic. A Portland victory would be a major surprise and one of its best of the season.