The Trail Blazers – playing on the road in the second night of a back-to-back and without Nicolas Batum – absolutely dominated the Nuggets in the first half tonight.
Portland took an 84-50 lead to the locker room, becoming just the third team in the last 20 years to score so many points in a first half.* Teams have scored 84 or fewer points in a full game 17 times already this season.
*The 2010-11 Warriors, against the Raptors, and the 2007-08 Nuggets, against the SuperSonics, also scored 84 points in a first half.
Tonight, the Trail Blazers shot the lights out (61 percent from the field, 60 percent on 3-pointers), got to the line (15-for-18 on free throws), moved the ball (20 assists) and hung tough on the offensive glass (nine offensive rebounds to 12 Denver defensive rebounds).
Five players scored double digits, and that doesn’t even count leading-scorer LaMarcus Aldridge who had nine.
Portland’s shot chart was a forest:
Somehow, Portland held on for a 130-113 win.
