Nuggets lose to Trail Blazers on Anfernee Simons buzzer-beater

The Nuggets’ penchant for the dramatic is unlikely to fade any time soon. In general, things have worked out in their favor this season. Not on Thursday.

Anfernee Simons drove right for a game-winning layup as time expired, handing the Nuggets their 11th loss of the season after they rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The Trail Blazers ended a six-game losing streak with their first win in December, led by 28 points from Simons, including the buzzer-beater.

Denver (14-11) had a three-game winning streak snapped. Next up is a game against the Pelicans on Sunday in New Orleans.

Can only make a comeback so many times

The entire game in Portland was a fair summary of the 2024-25 Nuggets. It’s like having to move two digits for a light bulb to light up. They stalled for most of the first half until the surging Blazers finally punished them. Then, when they fell behind 66-56 with 1:45 left before halftime, the Nuggets decided to hit the reset button.

Especially Jokic. He had a pretty quiet start with nine points. He just needed a little encouragement. The Blazers gave him some. Twice in a row, when Jokic brought the ball up, Deandre Ayton went under the ball screens and dared a 49% 3-point shooter to make 3s. Jokic obeyed, knocking both of them down to spark an almost effortless 10-0 run to close the half. Drawn game.

The paradoxical problem with this comeback was that it was too early. Denver was no longer behind by double digits. In fact, Portland quickly scored five points early in the second half, while it took three minutes for the Nuggets to score. They lost the third quarter by 17 points because the starting team was once again sloppy.

Like clockwork, another furious comeback followed from a team that had won four games this season after trailing by 10 or more in the final quarter. Denver’s second unit went on a 16-2 run, and in the final three minutes the starters finally managed to take the lead with a 9-0 score.

Ultimately, however, the constant balancing act inevitably led to slips and falls.

Ups and downs from Westbrook in the final stages

Michael Malone prevailed over Christian Braun with backup point guard Russell Westbrook in the final formation, a decision that worked well until the last shot.

Westbrook was outstanding overall: 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting, seven assists, two blocks. One of them seemed destined to be a defining moment of his tenure with the Nuggets so far. With the ball in possession, after Jamal Murray sank a game-winning three-pointer, Westbrook collapsed in support defense and parried Simons cleanly. There was a leak out, a long pass from Aaron Gordon and a go-ahead dunk from Michael Porter Jr.

But as the game came down to the Blazers’ final possession with the shot clock turned off, they called Simons’ name again and offered him a chance at redemption. He shot past Westbrook in isolation and scored as time expired.

Are there more box-out exercises coming?

During a four-day stretch without games last week, Michael Malone decided to address the Nuggets’ rebounding deficiencies by putting them through box-out drills in practice – a sort of return to training camp. That seemed to do the trick, at least temporarily.