Join host Danny Marang for a rapid reaction to the Portland Trail Blazers 135-110 win led by Anfernee Simons’ nuclear third quarter 22 points and Damian Lillard’s 31 point night against Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon’s Denver Nuggets.

Segment 1: Turns Out, One of the Best Shooters in the NBA Can Still Shoot the Ball after 3 Poor Outings

What? You didn’t think EYE was going to victory lap this one? You know me better than that by now, or at least you should. Yes, the guy who’s been one of the purest shooters in the league over the last two years found his jumper after a sub-par dare I say bad 3 shooting games? Well Anfernee Simons got hot and didn’t cool off for an entire quarter - to the tune of 22 points, 6-7 from distance and 8-9 from the field and half of Portland’s 44 points in the period.

Segment 2: Is the Defense, for REAL for real?

While a sluggish start marred the Blazers for the 4th straight game they again clawed their way back into the game with defensive intensity for more than a couple minutes. Turnovers were forced, fast breaks were had and slowly but surely Portland whittled away at a Nugget lead going into the half. Then in the third quarter the dam broke behind Simons’ salve AND the Blazers held Denver to just 25 in the period. We’ve seen the offensive fireworks before, but not backed by sustained defense.

That’s 4 games in a row. This might be a thing.

Segment 3: The Blazers finally clean up the sloppy stuff!

The Blazers have had a real issue heading into tonight’s game being loose with the ball - 22 of their 52 total turnovers have came about as a “bad pass.” Lillard being the chief offender with 11 such turnovers. You know the type, lazy and or air-mailed passes that end up igniting an opponent’s break or stifling a possession. After a few errant passes in the first half the Blazers tightened things up and even started flexing a bit - with Simons whipping a behind the back pass to Nurkic and rifling two one-handed passes, one to Josh Hart for a dunk the other to Lillard for a wing three.

You started to see what the offense COULD be when it fires on all cylinders and then some.

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