Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
This Tuesday, the (21-22) Portland Trail Blazers will travel to Denver, CO to take on the (30-13) Denver Nuggets. Tipoff will be at 9:00 PM EST inside Ball Arena. This will be the fourth and final time that these two teams match up this season, as the Nuggets won the last meeting, 120-107.
The Trail Blazers are coming into this one after defeating the Dallas Mavericks, 140-123. They looked spectacular on the offensive end of the court, as they shot 50.6% from the floor. They will have to stay hot in this one if they want to challenge the Nuggets on the road.
The Nuggets are entering this game after taking down the Orlando Magic, 119-116. Nikola Jokic hit a step-back three-point shot as time expired to secure the win for the Nuggets in that game. Denver will have to stay efficient in this one if they want to take care of business at home.
This game was written/published bef ore last night's results.
The Portland Trail Blazers are currently in ninth place in the Western Conference standings, as they are nine games back from the Nuggets. On offense, they are scoring 113.3 points per game and they have shot 47.9% from the floor. This is the 17th most points scored per contest and the 10th-highest team shooting percentage. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Blazers have an adjusted offensive rating of 115, which is the seventh-highest rating in the NBA. Damian Lillard continues to lead the way on the offensive end of the court, as he s scoring 28.8 points per game on 45% shooting from the field. Portland has also shown that they have multiple players that can heat from behind the arc. They have made 37.3% of their shots from deep, which is the seventh-highest three-point shooting percentage in the league. They haven't completely taken advantage of their trips to the charity stripe, though. The Trail Blazers have shot 78% from the lin e, which is the 17th-highest free-throw shooting percentage.
On the defensive end of the court, the Blazers have struggled to keep the ball out of their basket. They are currently allowing 112.6 points per game and their opponents have shot 47.3% from the floor. This is the 13th least amount of points surrendered per game and the 19th-lowest shooting percentage allowed. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Blazers have an adjusted defensive rating of 113.9, which is the 20th lowest rating in the NBA. They have also shown that they struggle to consistently contest from the outside. Their opponents have shot 36.1% from deep, which is the 21st-highest three-point shooting percentage allowed in the league. Luckily, Portland has snatched 43.3 rebounds per contest, which is the 16th most. They have to crash the defensive glass if they want to keep the Nuggets from scoring second-chance points.
Injury Report: Justice Winslow SF (Ankle) is out.< /p>
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