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The Denver Nuggets ran into early trouble, losing in their first-round matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers by a scoreline of 123-109. The Nuggets could not contain Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers' offense.
What the Denver Nuggets have to work on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs
For the second game of this series and for the rest of the battle, the Denver Nuggets will need to fix some issues that looked like glaring problems in the first matchup.
Among other issues, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was unable to involve his teammates on offense, and that was a great sight for the Portland Trail Blazers' defense, who managed that situation quite well.
In this article, we will discuss the three things we think the Denver Nuggets must improve to bounce back in their first-round fight with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Without further ado, let us start.
#3 Denver's bench needs to put up with Portland's second unit
The Denver Nuggets finished as the third seed of the Western Conference in the regular season, but the late stages of their campaign were not smooth. The team suffered key injuries down the stretch. They lost Jamal Murray for the rest of the year and Will Barton missed the team's final 14 games and will likely miss the playoffs.
Injuries in the starting lineup have hindered the Denver Nuggets' bench, but they managed to be effective in the final stages of the season. However, in Game 1 against Portland, Denver's bench got outscored by Portland's bench 34-20.
That needs to be resolved by Mike Malone's Nuggets, whether it is with a lineup switch or not. Barton's return could be huge for that, but his presence has yet to be confirmed.
The Denver Nuggets' overall defense needs to be better, as it has allowed a 46.6% field-goal percentage to rivals in its last 10 games, where the team has gone 5-5.
#2 The three-point battle was one-sided in Game 1
Heading into this first-round matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers, an efficient display defending the the three-point line was one of the major objectives for the Nuggets.
The Portland Trail Blazers' offense ranked second in the NBA regular season in offensive rating, and their three-point shooting was instrumental towards the cause. Portland ranked sixth in the league after making 38.5% of their attempts from three, and the Denver Nuggets were 11th at defending the three-point line.
In Game 1, Portland put on a show from the three-point line, making 19 of their 40 attempts. In contrast, the Denver Nuggets shot 11-36 from beyond the arc. The Nuggets defense could not limit the Trail Blazers' three-point shooting - something they need to work on going forward.
#1 Limit Damian Lillard's playmaking ability
While bench play and a three-point line battle played a big role in the first game of the series, Damian Lillard's 34 points and, more importantly, his 13 assists on the night were too much for the Denver Nuggets to overcome.
Denver's MVP candidate Nikola Jokic was used as a scorer in the first game - his playmaking ability coming in handy for Denver's offense. Jokic registered 34 points, but a career low in the NBA Playoffs with one assist.
Damian Lillard's scoring could have been extremely harmful for the rival's chances, and the Denver Nuggets tried to limit him to being a passer. The strategy could not have turned out worse for Denver, as Lillard found open teammates constantly as they made an impressive 13 of 15 shots off his assists. To add to that, he was still able to score 34 points.
Lillard's teammates are unlikely to score at the same rate as they did in Game 1. The Nuggets defense were unable to prevent his scoring or playmaking abilities and will have to pick their strategy carefully.
Preventing Lillard from scoring seems a hard task, but if he makes only 40% of his shots as he did in Game 1, it could work for Denver. However, blitzing him and allowing others to go off did not end well and the strategy might be revised for Game 2.
