Nuggets vs. Blazers observations: Denver can’t get Nikola Jokic the ball in crunch time

Instant takeaways as the Nuggets fell to - in NBA Cup play with a - group stage loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night at Moda Center End-of-game nightmares The Nuggets are a couple of plays away from being - Instead they re - with a pair of heartbreakers on the road They ll be haunted by the sequence of calls at the end of this one After Christian Braun missed a -point attempt that would ve given them a five-point lead he had another shaky night offensively he picked up a foul trying to defend Jerami Grant s missed layup in transition David Adelman used his challenge to no avail and the former Nugget made his free throws to tie the battle with seconds left At the other end Cam Johnson drove for a go-ahead layup attempt and was blocked by Toumani Camara but a second defender crashed into Johnson as he tried to land He disputed the no-call to the agents but Denver was out of timeouts and needed to set up a baseline out-of-bounds play with seconds to go Jokic caught the inbound pass as Camara tried to reach around his back to grab the ball He was rewarded with a jump-ball call leaving Jokic in disbelief at the lack of a foul call The upshot was a -second violation and a buzzer-beater opportunity for Portland Aaron Gordon got hit with a late whistle for reaching in on Grant who again buried his foul shots to win it Joker s triple-double streak fizzles Jokic fell one assist short of current the all-time record for consecutive triple-doubles to start a season His streak ended at four with points rebounds and nine assists despite perhaps his best overall two-way performance of the season so far His defensive engagement and rim protection were excellent and he had two blocks to show for it But the Nuggets couldn t get him the ball in crunch time Portland played small double-teamed him and fronted him in the post The weak-side shooter was often open but the Blazers pressure was suffocating enough that Denver s ball-handlers had a complicated time seeing the court and moving it to the second side As a development Jokic wasn t able to catch in ideal spots and make plays for teammates He stayed stuck at nine assists for the last several minutes of the night A meager of his helpers had been a effect of his recognition that Portland was sending bodies to crash the glass for offensive rebound opportunities His counter was often to hunt the home run outlet pass A couple of them worked to great effect for easy buckets on a night when scoring didn t come easy including one absolute prayer to Peyton Watson with enough hang time to make a punter proud Related Articles Nuggets Journal Predicting the NBA Cup as Denver again plays in Group of Death Certified Jonas Valanciunas giving Nuggets solid minutes Nikola Jokic rest Nikola Jokic extends triple-double streak Nuggets ride big third quarter to easy win over Pelicans DeAndre Jordan returns to face Nuggets days after signing with Pelicans I owe a lot to Denver Nuggets Podcast Jamal Murray goes off Christian Braun gets paid and Aaron Gordon goes hyphy Awkward first half The Blazers might not be a top- gang in the West but they can defend Toumani Camara Jrue Holiday and company made Denver s half-court offense look mortal for the first time this season The Nuggets had to work to get into their sets against Portland s hyper-athletic lineups It didn t help that a clock malfunction late in the first quarter caused a -minute delay taking them out of what little rhythm they had established in the first place Jamal Murray s shot-making carried the first-half offense Despite being listed as questionable with left calf tightness on the pregame injury assessment he mustered of his points before halftime He was the group s only double-digit scorer at the break yet even he looked worn down at both ends later in the tournament as Portland picked him up in the backcourt and hounded him But Denver s defense traveled Adelman and Jared Dudley started the encounter in zone which they hadn t done yet this season and it at once bothered the Blazers They were held to points in the first frame against a Nuggets defense that usually allows upwards of