The Nuggets couldn’t seem to solve Jusuf Nurkic in his two and a half seasons in Denver, and they had no answers for the Bosnian big man Tuesday night as Nurkic and the Portland Trail Blazers handed the Nuggets a 122-113 loss that all but spells the end of Denver’s playoff hopes. The former Nugget scored a career-high 33 points and C.J. McCollum had a game-high 39 to put the Blazers firmly in control of the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
Since being traded to the Trail Blazers in February, Nurkic is averaging 15 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Nurkic never quite clicked with Denver, averaging 17.7 minutes and just 7.5 points per game for the Nuggets. Now in a starting role in Portland, he’s averaging more than 12 more minutes per game and his points and rebounds have effectively doubled. On Tuesday night Denver saw the 16th overall pick from 2014 dominate their own Balkan big, Nikola Jokic. Denver’s rising Serbian star still had a solid night, recording 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, but the night belonged to Nurkic and McCollum.
All five Denver starters scored in double-figures and Will Barton had 13 points off the bench, but no one on the Nuggets had the dominant game necessary to deliver the victory Denver needed to stay in the playoff chase. Danilo Gallinari, Denver’s leading scorer, was just 3-for-15 from the field, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range. On the night, Denver shot just 9-for-30 from distance.
With the loss, Denver falls a full game (plus tiebreakers) back of Portland for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. With eight games remaining, Denver plays six on the road while Portland is home for six. The Blazers are 12-3 in the month of March while the Nuggets are just 8-6. Denver continues its five-game road trip in Charlotte on Friday. The Blazers host Houston on Thursday.