Five Observations: Jokic dominates Nurkic in Round 3

The Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 102-85 on Friday. After years of struggles at the Moda Center, Denver finally got a win in its personal house of horrors. Here are five observations from the game.

1. Jokic outduels Nurkic

Prior to Friday’s game, Nuggets coach Michael Malone offered an honest assessment about the first two rounds of Jokic vs. Nurkic.

“For whatever reason, he becomes more reserved against Nurk,” Malone said. “We need to play aggressive. We need Nikola to step up and play well. We can’t be buddy buddy with anybody.”

Perhaps Malones’ comments lit a spark under Nikola Jokic‘s butt because he completely dominated Round 3 against his former teammate. Jokic looked aggressive from the outset. He finished nearly everything at the rim in the early going, even showing off a rare drive-and-dunk in the second quarter.

Jokic made seven of the first 10 shots he took. You knew he was feeling good about himself when he busted out the Dirk Nowitzki one-legged fadeaway, which we’ve only seen a handful of times.

Paging @swish41 Nikola Jokic has 18 first-half points on 8-11 shooting. pic.twitter.com/QcFUNzrzVg

— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) December 23, 2017

His final line: 27 points (12-21 FG), eight rebounds, six assists, two blocks, plus-29 in 37 minutes. He destroyed Nurkic, who was a minus-28 in 24 minutes.

“In the past, Nikola had not been as aggressive as he needed to be,” Malone said on Altitude TV’s post-game broadcast. “Tonight he got over a mental block.”

2. Aggressive Wilson Chandler

At times this season, Wilson Chandler has looked unsure of himself on the offensive end. He came into the Portland game shooting 41.1 percent from the field, the lowest mark of his 12-year career. But once the first whistle sounded, he looked like last year’s version of himself.

Chandler scored a season-high 21 points (8-15 FG) and corralled 11 rebounds. It was the first time he hit the 20-point benchmark since March. He did it mostly on drives. He’s relying on his spin move a lot lately, and it’s getting results.

Chandler’s defense has been solid all year long. Maybe his offense is coming around too.

3. Mason Plumlee‘s block party

Mason Plumlee spent most of Friday’ game sending out invitations to his block party. It’s cold, but he’s still hosting. Rumor has it he makes a mean potato salad.

Al-Farouq Aminu got an invite.

So did Jusuf Nurkic.

Ed Davis as well.

Plumlee was fantastic against his former team. He blocked five shots. He was Denver’s defensive anchor as it played one of its finest games of the season on that end.

The Trail Blazers, who were without Damian Lillard, never broke 25 in any quarter. Denver held them to 19 in the second then 19 again in the fourth. Everyone did their part, but Plumlee was the biggest reason why.

It’s possible Malone continues to roll with the Jokic-Plumlee starting front line. It played well against the Timberwolves and was excellent again in Portland.

4. Gary Harris crafty around the cup

Gary Harris has struggled with his outside shot in the month of December. That continued in Portland as he went 0-3 from three-point range. He still managed to score 17 points on 12 shots. How? By relentlessly attacking the rim and finishing once he got inside.

This year, Harris is shooting 72 percent on shots at the rim, per Cleaning the Glass. That’s an elite mark. Harris is only 6-foot-4, but he knows how to use his strength and the angles to his advantage.

Few players are better at using the backboard as a way to prevent their shot from getting swatted. Harris could teach a college course on it.

5. The Nuggets exorcised some demons

Want to know how long it’d been since the Nuggets last earned a win in Portland? I could give you a date. Or I could just tell you that the last time it happened, the Macklemore song “Thrift Shop” was Billboard’s No. 1 song in the country.

Denver finally snapped an 0-for-9 streak at the Moda Center. The Nuggets were in control virtually the entire way. Jokic, Chandler, Plumlee and Harris all played excellent games.

It must have felt good for Denver, especially with the way the last two games there have gone. The Trail Blazers essentially eliminated the Nuggets from playoff contention in March. Then in November, Denver lost a 99-82 stinker in which it scored 33 points in the second half.

The Nuggets got their first win over the Trail Blazers since the Nurkic/Plumlee trade.