PORTLAND, Ore. — The house formerly known as the Rose Garden had produced its fair share of thorns in the Nuggets’ side in recent seasons. There were some near-miss losses and some blowout losses, but most always heartache at the end of the now-Moda Center tunnel.
The Nuggets had their moments Sunday night. But a series of moments doesn’t always see a team through.
And so the Nuggets stood on the wrong end of a 116-100 decision to the Portland Trail Blazers, losing their fifth straight game while at the same time feeling good about some of what they were able to accomplish.
“We’re getting closer,” Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. “But it’s still not good enough to get a W.”
The Nuggets are now 1-5. Their previous 1-5 start came in 1998-99. That team, coached by Mike D’Antoni, finished 14-36 in what was a strike-shortened season.
The loss boiled down to too many instances of not defending shooters and then having inopportune moments of allowing an offensive rebound that led to a bucket. The Blazers had 19 second-chance points, and they were timely.
At 1:56 in the first quarter: The Nuggets, down 26-25, got two stops but allowed offensive rebounds. The Blazers eventually turned it into a Chris Kaman jumper, which started a 10-2 run to end the quarter.
At 5:35 in the second quarter: Both Wesley Matthews and LaMarcus Aldridge missed jump shots, but Portland crashed the offensive glass. Aldridge nailed a jumper, which started a run to take the game from a 48-43 Portland lead to 55-43.
“Portland, in general, they attack the offensive boards, and tonight was the battle of who can get the most offensive boards and make the most out of their opportunities,” Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried said. “And they got them. They were able to capitalize off their offensive boards and get 3s out of them.”
It was that way most of the night, the Nuggets playing well enough to keep it close or make a move to take the lead, but the details eluding them and keeping them at arm’s length.
The 3-point line didn’t help.
The issue the Nuggets had with facing Portland last season was they overemphasized the 3-point line and shooters like Matthews and Nicolas Batum. What happened then was other players were able to carve out big games. The Nuggets didn’t want to do that Sunday night — but they did want better perimeter defense than they were able to put on the floor.
Many times getting out to opposing shooters was an issue. Particularly when the ball swung from the strong side to the weak side, the weak-side defender was too late to get a good hand up. Or when the Trail Blazers had multiple passes, the Nuggets’ defense was stretched to its breaking point and Portland shooters got good looks.
PHOTOS:
And they cashed them in, racking up 16 3-pointers.
The Nuggets were led by Faried’s 19 points and seven rebounds. Ty Lawson added 18 points and eight assists in arguably his best game of the season.
Still, the win is what matters most.
“We’re tired of losing,” Faried said. “We’re basically 0-5 in my book. We dropped five games in a row. It’s frustrating, I’m frustrated. I know my teammates are frustrated.”
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or
Three point barrage
The Nuggets went down in a sea of Portland 3-pointers. A comparison of the two teams.
Portland 16-of-31
Nuggets 5-of-13
