Why can’t Damian Lillard beat the Denver Nuggets?
Jan 17, 2023, 11:02 PM
For the fifth time in his career Damian Lillard scored 40-plus points against the Denver Nuggets and lost.
The Trail Blazers blew into Denver on Tuesday to face a Nuggets team that hasn’t lost at home since early December. The Nuggets blew the doors off the Blazers, with the help of 36 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists on 13-of-14 shooting from back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic.
Dame Time, a six-time NBA All-Star, is the only player in NBA history to score 40 or more points against the Nuggets and lose at least five times. Lillard went for 55 points in a Game 5 Portland loss at Ball Arena in the 2021 NBA playoffs. Lillard scored 44 points but was a -22 in his head coach’s return to Denver.
.@DenverSportsCom It’s a Peaky Blinders Triple Double as Dame goes crazy but loses again to the Joker. 122-113 W. 14th in a row at home. Game Recap! pic.twitter.com/BdaNnS3jY1
— Darren McKee (@DMacRadio) January 18, 2023
Lillard was averaging 23.9 points per game in 36 contests in his career against the Nuggets. Denver is 17-6 over the last six seasons against Portland. And the Nuggets own this year’s standing’s tiebreaker too—should it come down to that—as Denver stays atop the west.
David Adelman stepped in to coach the Nuggets with Michael Malone sidelined in health and safety protocols. Jokic with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. combined for over 70 points in the effort.
The Nuggets are back at it against the Timberwolves on Wednesday and have a third game in four nights at home on Friday, where they have won 14 in a row.
By order of the Peaky Blinders pic.twitter.com/JgjRe6gYOM
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 18, 2023
