Trail Blazers' Late Surge Not Enough to Eclipse Nuggets at Moda Center
The Denver Nuggets, with a 50-21 record, edged out the Portland Trail Blazers, who now stand at 19-52, in a closely contested game that ended 114-111. The Nuggets demonstrated their resilience by maintaining the lead for most of the game and securing a victory despite a spirited comeback from the home team.
The Trail Blazers started off slow but found their rhythm as the game progressed. They showcased an impressive offensive performance in the third quarter by scoring 36 points, which was their highest-scoring period of the night. Despite trailing behind for much of the contest, they managed to narrow down what was once a 15-point deficit to just three points by final buzzer.
Portland's efforts were bolstered by their bench players who contributed 35 points to their total score. The team also excelled in second-chance opportunities, converting them into 22 points and shooting an outstanding 60 percent from those attempts. Their tenacity on offense was further highlighted by outscoring Denver in paint with 64 points compared to Denver's 60.
On defense, both teams were nearly even with eight blocks each and eight steals apiece. However, it was Denver's ability to draw fouls and capitalize on free throws that made a significant difference; they went to the line for a total of 33 free throw attempts making an efficient rate of seventy-three percent.
Despite Portland's valiant effort which included leading briefly during the contest for twenty-nine seconds and achieving a two-point biggest lead at one point, it wasn't enough against Denver’s consistent performance throughout all four quarters.
Looking ahead after this hard-fought battle at Moda Center before an attendance of eighteen thousand six hundred twenty-nine fans; The Portland Trail Blazers will be visiting Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on March twenty-fifth at seven o'clock Central Time Zone (CT). Fans can catch this upcoming match-up live on Space City Home Network or ROOT Sports NW and ROOT Sports NW+.