Game Thread PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1, GAME 1: BLAZERS @ NUGGETS - MAY 22, 2021 - SATURDAY, 7:30, ESPN

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What do you predict to be the final outcome of this series?

  • Total voters
    79
  • Poll closed .
garbagetime said:
This is not an even series. Murray out. Barton out, or not yet fully recovered. You Blazer fans should not worry at all. This is a depleted Nugget team that might as well go home before it even starts. The Blazers finally have a full squad. As I said earlier, don't conclude much from the win in round 1 because the more difficult test and better measuring stick will come in round 2.
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Let's win round 1 first. Absolutely foolish to look past game 1 when it's the playoffs.
 
WesleyMatthews said:
Looking ahead would be the worst thing for the players or coaches to do.

It's fine if fans want to, we don't have an impact on the outcome of the game.
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We sure don't. It's still foolish for anyone to do it. And no one is taking me off of that opinion.
 
illmatic99 said:
We might be overestimating our defensive improvement. Just two weeks ago, we were thinking we might not even make a play-in. There was tangible improvement in our focus that led to our solid finish, but was it just a mirage?

Jokic is gonna get Nurk in foul trouble early and we're gonna have to deal with Kanter playing him for 25+ mins. And Terry will make adjustments only in Game 4. I don't see us winning more than a game.
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That could work the other way round too.
 
Pinwheel1 said:
Dame is not just trapped when he brings the ball up the court. It occurs whenever he gets the ball 30 feet from the basket. Terry will need a couple of different strategies. I imagine whoever is guarding Nurk and RoCo will be the 2nd defender in the trap. They will need to make smart decisions.
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to find success against a trap against Dame in a half court set, spacing will become imperative. Nurk or Kanter will have to have eyes in the back of their heads and there will need to be a ton of motion to the hoop (back cuts, etc.) - as enough lay-ins will put an end to traps on Dame. A motion offense, like Jack Ramsay employed in 1977, is why we won the Title.
 
Jokic averaged 27/14/8 against us the last time we faced him in the playoffs. He wasn't nearly as good back then.

But we were guarding him with an injured Kanter.

He averages 29/6/3.5 against us in three games this year, when he's been playing like the MVP against most teams. Those are not MVP-quality numbers.

He averaged fewer assists against us than all but one NBA team (Toronto). He went from 8.5 assists against everyone else to 3.5 in three games against us.

The difference is Nurkic.

Probably the most underrated story line in this series is going to be Nurk and Kanter turning Jokic from "NBA MVP" to "NBA Regular Season MVP." So much of his offense comes from passing over smaller guys and using his size to body smaller guys. That will not be a problem for us.
 
wizenheimer said:
since nobody has done the useless remedial breakdown yet, it's on me to do it:

* C - Jokic/McGee vs Nurlic Kanter: obviously you have to give the edge to the elite player and Jokic is definitely that. But Jokic is not as mobile as many C's meaning Portland's guys have a good shot at offsetting Jokic with their physicality and work on the boards. Advantage: Nuggets but Blazers could surprise

* Forwards/Wings: Porter, Gordon, Millsap, Green vs Powell, RoCo, Melo: looks like an advantage for the Nuggets. But, a very large playoff experience advantage for Portland. Never know how players are going to react to the first real playoff tests, and this will be that for Porter and Gordon. The Denver 'wings' may have lots of trouble staying in front of Powell. RoCo can limit the player he guards. And Melo is almost certain to have at least one hot game. On the other hand, he's also almost certain to shoot like shit one game and Porter has the skills to really erupt offensively. Advantage: Nuggets, but the somewhat unorthodox Blazer trio will make things interesting

* Back Court: Campazzo, Rivers, Barton (maybe), Morris, Dozier (maybe) vs Dame, CJ, Powell, Ant: giant mismatch on paper and I think it will likely be the same on court. The health and availability of Barton and Dozier will be significant. Mainly though is that Denver doesn't have anybody the class of Jrue Holiday or Klay or Rondo or Beverly or Iggy to cover Dame; and they do not have the personnel to consistently and effectively trap and double Dame without leaving big holes in their defense Portland can exploit. Adding to this is that unlike the past playoff matchups, CJ has actually burned the Nuggest enough that they are unlikely to flex their defense completely toward Dame. And Powell is a wild card here. Advantage: Blazers by a lot, perhaps enough to more than offset the Nugget advantages in the front court

if healthy, the Nuggets have a better bench, but playoff rotations are shortened anyway. The wild card is the Denver elevation, but 'all' Portland needs is 1 of the first 2 games to flip HCA

coaching: tossup

projected winner:

View attachment 38554
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"But Jokic is not as mobile as many C's.......}" I'll disagree on that point. "And Melo is almost certain to have at least one hot game. On the other hand, he's also almost certain to shoot like shit one game and Porter has the skills to really erupt offensively." Agree!.
Also, Campazzo is the one Denver player that will surprise all of us.
 
Darkwebs said:
Seemingly an annual tradition, the Blazers once again closed out the regular season strong, winning 10 of their last 12 games. They blew out the Nuggets as a must-watch season finale episode, and coincidentally enough, Denver is also slated to be their opponent in the 1st round of the NBA Playoffs.

This will be the first time Nurk has faced the Nuggets in the Playoffs, so I'm curious to how he will fare in this series. Will he raise his game, or wilt under the pressure of proving Denver made a mistake of trading him?

In addition, Melo will be returning to the city that drafted him.

Blazers may have lost the season series to Denver 1-2, but both those Portland losses were on the 2nd night of a back-to-back. Denver will be missing the services of their starting point guard, Jamal Murray, which is obviously a big blow.

These teams will have at least 5 days off before they meet again, so each team's coaching staff will have plenty of time to prepare and plan for their opponent. Let's hope Terry Stotts come up with something special.


Mj9w0Qt.gif
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Both here in Portland and over in Colorado there are a lot of nugz getting blazed
 
mook said:
Jokic averaged 27/14/8 against us the last time we faced him in the playoffs. He wasn't nearly as good back then.

But we were guarding him with an injured Kanter.

He averages 29/6/3.5 against us in three games this year, when he's been playing like the MVP against most teams. Those are not MVP-quality numbers.

He averaged fewer assists against us than all but one NBA team (Toronto). He went from 8.5 assists against everyone else to 3.5 in three games against us.

The difference is Nurkic.

Probably the most underrated story line in this series is going to be Nurk and Kanter turning Jokic from "NBA MVP" to "NBA Regular Season MVP." So much of his offense comes from passing over smaller guys and using his size to body smaller guys. That will not be a problem for us.
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I don' t know all you Blazer fans are spending so much time on analyzing the Nuggets series. It is real simple. The Blazers engine has all its cylinders running, while the Nuggets are missing two of them. Spend all your analysis effort for the Round 2 opponent, which almost certainly will not be at such a great disadvantage as the Nuggets. Jokic, Smokic neither one will make a difference. The Blazers have lucked out again in getting to play an opponent at a severe disadvantage. Why even play the series?
 
garbagetime said:
I don' t know all you Blazer fans are spending so much time on analyzing the Nuggets series. It is real simple. The Blazers engine has all its cylinders running, while the Nuggets are missing two of them. Spend all your analysis effort for the Round 2 opponent, which almost certainly will not be at such a great disadvantage as the Nuggets. Jokic, Smokic neither one will make a difference. The Blazers have lucked out again in getting to play an opponent at a severe disadvantage. Why even play the series?
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Lol wut

We didnt have Nurk against Denver two yrs ago and Enes played with a messed up shoulder and Dame banged up as well.

Dame missed games against LA last yr after getting hurt multiple times.

Lucked out? Dafuq. We have had the worst injury luck of any franchise in the NBA. Oh nooo but jamal murray. Lol
 
garbagetime said:
I don' t know all you Blazer fans are spending so much time on analyzing the Nuggets series. It is real simple. The Blazers engine has all its cylinders running, while the Nuggets are missing two of them. Spend all your analysis effort for the Round 2 opponent, which almost certainly will not be at such a great disadvantage as the Nuggets. Jokic, Smokic neither one will make a difference. The Blazers have lucked out again in getting to play an opponent at a severe disadvantage. Why even play the series?
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0e8d28ef49bb4f3a280fb5cdbffc8563.jpg
 
illmatic99 said:
Lol wut

We didnt have Nurk against Denver two yrs ago and Enes played with a messed up shoulder and Dame banged up as well.

Dame missed games against LA last yr after getting hurt multiple times.

Lucked out? Dafuq. We have had the worst injury luck of any franchise in the NBA. Oh nooo but jamal murray. Lol
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Disregard the troll. The Blazers have had an injury advantage twice (In 2016 vs LAC and the WCF in 2019 against the GSW who did not have Durant - Blazers didn't have Nurkic either) in the last 10 playoff series they have been in. It's not a common thread they have relied upon. In fact more than not teams have faced an injured Blazer team in the playoffs.
 
garbagetime said:
I don' t know all you Blazer fans are spending so much time on analyzing the Nuggets series. It is real simple. The Blazers engine has all its cylinders running, while the Nuggets are missing two of them. Spend all your analysis effort for the Round 2 opponent, which almost certainly will not be at such a great disadvantage as the Nuggets. Jokic, Smokic neither one will make a difference. The Blazers have lucked out again in getting to play an opponent at a severe disadvantage. Why even play the series?
Click to expand...

does reverse fake woofing counter any real woofing, or does it make the original woofing worse?

asking for a friend.
 
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