The red-hot Denver Nuggets seek their ninth consecutive win Monday when they welcome in a Portland Trail Blazers team on a run of its own.
Portland (40-38) picked up its third straight win on Friday and moved into eighth in the Western Conference standings with a 118-106 defeat of New Orleans. Jrue Holiday knocked down seven 3-pointers on the way to 27 points, coming on the heels of a 30-point performance in a 114-104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.
The Blazers also got six 3-pointers from Toumani Camara, who finished with 23 points. Camara heads into Monday’s contest having scored 63 points combined over Portland’s last three contests.
Camara also made NBA history in Friday’s contest, drawing his 100th offensive foul of the season. He surpassed the previous record of 99, set by Anderson Varejao in the 2006-07 campaign.
“It’s a little bit weird. You work towards these type of (milestones), but I’m just glad I was able to get that through a win,” Camara told reporters. “My first year (in the NBA), I was getting really mad at (offensive opponents) being able to draw fouls, so I was just trying to find a counter defensively. How can I match that energy?”
Camara’s defensive presence, which also includes his 1.1 steals per game, has helped Portland rank among the league’s top turnover-generating teams. The Blazers force 14.9 turnovers per game, seventh-most in the NBA.
Finding ways to create turnovers is a challenge against Denver, which commits the third-fewest in the league at 12.2 per contest.
The Nuggets (50-28) also rank fifth in assists per game at 28.8, led by Most Valuable Player contender Nikola Jokic’s 10.9.
The three-time MVP is averaging a triple-double for a second consecutive season, adding 27.9 points and 12.9 rebounds per game.
On Saturday, Jokic outdueled fellow MVP candidate, San Antonio big man Victor Wembanyama, going for 40 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds and three blocked shots in a 136-134 overtime win for Denver.
Christian Braun added 21 points and eight rebounds as the Nuggets picked up their eighth straight victory and pulled within a half-game of the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoff race.
Los Angeles plays Dallas on Sunday evening.
Another key player in Denver’s win on Saturday was Aaron Gordon, who went for 15 points. According to Nuggets coach David Adelman, was integral to the team’s defensive effort.
“Aaron’s one of those guys who’s unique defensively because he’s got good feet, he’s got the size,” Adelman said. “We’re going to need more of that to win big games at the end of the season.”
Adelman noted that Gordon’s 41:05 exceeded the usage allotment the club had for the forward coming into Saturday’s game, the result of left calf soreness. Adelman said Gordon would be evaluated on Sunday to determine his availability against Portland.
Should Gordon be ready to go facing the Blazers, he could see defensive matchups opposite Portland All-Star Deni Avdija. In the most recent meeting between the teams — a 128-112 Nuggets win on March 22 — Avdija finished with 23 points and 14 assists.
