Advertisement

In a league obsessed with isolation, Nuggets win by moving the ball

Jason Owens
Staff writer

DENVER — Nikola Jokic ripped a rebound from Enes Kanter late in the second quarter of Tuesday’s Game 5.

The do-everything Nuggets center held on to the ball, ran the fast break and dropped it off in the frontcourt for a trailing Gary Harris, who glided in for an easy layup.

Nuggets, 58-41. Trail Blazers time out. Pepsi Center, frenzied.

Selfless Nuggets

The play was a microcosm of a game in which the Trail Blazers couldn’t find an answer for — well — anyone. The Nuggets took turns playing star in a game of ‘pick your poison’ that resulted in an overwhelming 124-98 victory to take a 3-2 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

With the win, Denver secured a worst-case scenario that would see a Game 7 at home on Sunday with a trip to the Western Conference finals on the line.

Judging from Tuesday’s result, that may not be necessary.

The Nuggets have a selfless superstar in Nikola Jokic. (Getty)
The Nuggets have a selfless superstar in Nikola Jokic. (Getty)

As four Nuggets players scored at least 16 points and six tallied double figures, Portland struggled from the floor and failed to find reliable offense from its starting unit outside of Damian Lillard. And even he was far from his best.

Paul Millsap got the party started, leading all scorers with 12 points in a first quarter the Nuggets used to set the tone in taking a 31-25 lead.

Murray puts on a show

Late in the second, it was Jamal Murray’s turn in a display of the acrobatic athleticism that’s made him a breakout star of the playoffs on three straight Denver buckets as the Nuggets broke the game open.

Another monster game from Jokic

Throughout the game it was Jokic. As he has been throughout the entire playoffs while leading all remaining players in rebounds and assists — remember, he’s a center — Jokic was overwhelming in all facets of the game.

By the time he fouled out with 3:50 remaining, he’d tallied 25 points, 19 rebounds and six assists.

The disqualification didn’t matter. Denver led 112-90. If anything, it gave the remaining Nuggets fans who hadn’t started filing out of the Pepsi Center confident in victory a chance to remind Jokic where their vote for MVP lies.

But as good as he his, this Nuggets team isn’t just about Jokic.

Malone: Passing ‘part of our culture’

At its best, it’s a team that can hit opponents from all angles while focusing on ball movement and eschewing the isolation-heavy style of teams like the Houston Rockets.

Denver was at its best on Tuesday, in large part thanks to its 26-to-7 assist-to-turnover ratio.

“That’s who we’ve been,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said of sharing the ball. “It’s something we harp on. It’s something we practice. It’s something we preach.

“That’s part of our culture. Being selfless, making plays for a teammate and playing for each other, not just with each other.”

Murray’s remarkable assist-to-turnover line

Murray personified that philosophy on Tuesday, picking his spots to attack the basket while acting as a calculated, effective steward of the ball when it wasn’t his turn to score.

His effort showed up in the box score to the tune of 18 points, nine assists and zero turnovers.

Veteran presence

Millsap, the 13-year veteran and one Nuggets starter with real playoff experience, looked like his former All-Star self, tallying 24 points and eight rebounds while hitting a pair of 3-pointers.

“He doesn’t have emotions,” Jokic said of Millsap, explaining how the veteran’s demeanor helps ground a young team without playoff experience. “It means a lot to me, to be honest. It helps me a lot just to watch him, just to learn from him, how he deals with situations.”

Millsap is the emotional antithesis of Jokic, a fiery player on the court who’s not afraid to release a roar into the Pepsi Center after a big play or step up to Myers Leonard after the Portland center hit him with a flagrant foul in the fourth quarter when the game was out of hand.

That confrontation was quickly quelled, but it put on full display the type of energy Jokic brings to the floor.

Blazers looked beat from the start

There was little of that kind of energy from the Blazers on Tuesday, who struggled out of the gate and never gained traction in the first game of the series that was decided by double digits.

Lillard scored 22, but needed 21 shots to get there while hitting just 2-of-9 3-point attempts. C.J. McCollum was the only other Portland starter in double figures with 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the floor.

As a whole, the Blazers shot 36.7 percent from the field while hitting 10-of-37 (27 percent) 3-pointers. This is a team that led the NBA in 3-point percentage during the season, shooting 37.8 percent.

Altitude a factor for Portland?

It’s been a grueling series for both teams through five games, especially considering the epic four-overtime Game 3. Portland made its second road trip of the series Tuesday to the mile-high air of Denver. It’s not unreasonable to wonder if the altitude had an effect on the Blazers.

“I think the altitude kicks in, but for us, we’re professionals,” Lillard said. “We’ve played here a bunch of times in the regular season. We’ve played here three times now in this series.

“I think, in the first quarter you feel it a little bit, then after that you pretty much feel regular.”

There wasn’t much regular for the Blazers after the first quarter. But they’ve got a Game 6 at home on Thursday to regroup and try to stay alive.

They’ll likely need to lean on Lillard at the Moda Center against a Denver team that’s peaking as the series reaches its climax. The Nuggets have done a good job of containing the Portland star since he dropped 39 points in Game 1.

If he doesn’t put together a star performance on Thursday, there may not be a return trip to Denver in store.

More from Yahoo Sports: