The Portland Trail Blazers have won three games in a row. Despite being in position where tanking might not be such a bad idea, the Blazers are playing hard and playing well, having smashed the Memphis Grizzlies a couple days ago without Ja Morant.

Now, like the Grim Reaper, the Blazers are coming for the Nuggets, who will be without Nikola Jokic.

Let’s delve into the final Portland Trail Blazers matchup of the regular season:

Denver Nuggets @ Portland Trail Blazers

Projected Starting Lineups

Denver: Russell Westbrook, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon

Portland: Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan

Key Bench Players

Denver: Jalen Pickett, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, Hunter Tyson, Vlatko Cancar, Spencer Jones?!

Portland: Scoot Henderson, Dalano Banton, Kris Murray, Matisse Thybulle, Duop Reath

Notable Injuries

Denver: Nikola Jokic – OUT, Jamal Murray – QUESTIONABLE, Aaron Gordon – PROBABLE, Christian Braun – PROBABLE, Julian Strawther – OUT, DaRon Holmes II – OUT

Portland: Deandre Ayton – OUT, Jerami Grant – DOUBTFUL, Robert Williams – OUT, Jabari Walker – OUT

Key for the Nuggets – Better offensive process

Without Nikola Jokic on the floor post All-Star Break, the Denver Nuggets have a fairly abhorrent 99.6 Offensive Rating in 224 minutes. To give some context, the Lakers have a 107.1 Offensive Rating without Luka Doncic post All-Star, while the Golden State Warriors are at 113.3 without Stephen Curry, the Milwaukee Bucks are at 107.5 without Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Thunder are at 121.5(!!!) without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Now, Denver’s defense gets better without Jokic because the Nuggets have to try harder to compensate for the offensive drop off. They shouldn’t have to try that hard though. Denver needs to find more ways to generate better offensive process without their star. If Jamal Murray is back, he should help things. If not, then it will be up to Russell Westbrook, Michael Porter Jr., and Aaron Gordon to run things like they did vs Golden State, not like Los Angeles.

Important Matchup – Deni Avdija vs Michael Porter Jr.

In his last game vs the Memphis Grizzlies, Deni Avdija had himself a night, going for 31 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists in 39 minutes. The Grizzlies had no answer for the versatile forward, and he appears to be coming into his own as a member of the Blazers.

On the other side, Michael Porter Jr. had a rough game vs the Lakers as they hunted him relentlessly with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Can he find more success defensively against Avdija? And can he pair that with some better offensive numbers? Post All-Star, Porter is averaging just 15.6 points per game while shooting 31.9% from three. He’s due for a big scoring night, and the Nuggets could use one tonight.

Number of the Day – Minus 13.3

-13.3 is the Nuggets Net Rating without Nikola Jokic or Jamal Murray on the floor this season, according to PBP Stats. While the defense is really impressive (109.3 Defensive Rating) the offense is about as far away from impressive as possible (96.0 Offensive Rating). The Nuggets have made very little progress with lineups that haven’t included either of those guys because they haven’t been able to score consistently, which is what made the win vs Golden State all the more impressive.

If the Nuggets are without Murray tonight, they could struggle offensively once again.

Nugget who should have a good game: Aaron Gordon

Frankly, Gordon is by far the safest option for these situations because he’s shooting the basketball extremely well. Though the Blazers will be focused on him, they don’t have great options against him outside of possibly Toumani Camara. He’s their best defender, and it wouldn’t surprise me if head coach Chauncey Billups jumbles up their defensive coverages a bit and has center Donovan Clingan guard Russell Westbrook or Christian Braun.

If Clingan guards Gordon, look for the Nuggets power forward to hunt his three-point shot.