2019 NBA Playoffs: Blazers-Nuggets Head to Head Numbers

As thePortland Trail Blazersand丹佛掘金准备在2019年第二轮比赛中发生冲突NBA Playoffs，让我们看一下他们的顶级轮换球员的头对头统计对决。我们知道达米安·利拉德（Damian Lillard）and尼古拉·乔基奇（Nikola Jokic）excelled during the regular season and dominated Round 1 of the playoffs. How did they do against each other’s teams, and how did their supporting casts fare?

Let’s take a look.

达米安·利拉德（Damian Lillard）

这个故事并没有开始对波特兰的希望。丹佛是之一达米安·利拉德（Damian Lillard）本赛季最糟糕的对决。Lillard对阵丹佛的比赛比平均水平多3.3分钟，但他的投篮命中率较少，地板和弧线的百分比很痛苦。总体37.1％，距离为28.6％...那不是达米安·利拉德（Damian Lillard）我们已经习惯了。每场比赛21.3分仍然是＃1选项，但比超凡超级巨星更接近才华横溢的得分后卫。

利拉德（Lillard）大量拨打了兆瓦Oklahoma City Thunder在第一轮比赛中，命中率为46.1％，弧线为48.1％，平均得到33.0分。也许他只是那么好，它会延续。但是，如果丹佛的防御性关注使他钝化，开拓者将很难弥补。他们已经在中场受伤了。仅仅利拉德并不令人惊奇的想法 - 独自一人自己反对兰吉，敬业的后卫 - 足以引起该系列的怀疑。

Lillard’s ability to excel against Denver will be one of two major questions the Blazers will need to answer early.

CJ McCollum

CJ McCollumplayed to his season averages against Denver. The glaring exception comes in three-point shooting, a Denver defensive specialty.McCollumshot 37.5% from the arc during the regular season as a whole, only 26.3% against the Nuggets.

如果the Blazers hadJusuf Nurkicon the court, with a possibility of battling尼古拉·乔基奇（Nikola Jokic）to a near-draw, 41 points combined from the Lillard-McCollumbackcourt might be enough to give hope. Odds are the Blazers will need more than that to make this a competitive series.

Al-Farouq Aminu

Here’s some good news for Portland: Al-Farouq Aminu excelled against the Nuggets. Whatever attention their defense devoted to the backcourt left him free to score. He took advantage with 3.3 extra field goal attempts, 1.3 extra three-pointers, and 6.4 points added to his scoring average. He also doubled his free throws and rebounded like an All-Star.

Enes Kanter

Enes Kanteralso scored and rebounded big versus the Nuggets. He took far more shots and kept his field goal percentage high, earning an eye-popping 17 points per game. Meanwhile his offensive rebounding went through the roof and he even got in a couple assists. The Blazers will need all of those attributes, particularly the rebounding, if they’re to keep pace with Denver.

波特兰摘要

如果you take a strict team approach, where quantity trumps quality, Portland’s key players have fared well enough against the Nuggets. The one player who fell short in the season series (Lillard) lies at the heart of any hopes to contend in the playoffs. That’s not accidental. Denver’s first aim in this series will be to chop off the head. They’ll be less concerned with how the body wriggles afterwards.

The glass half empty approach say the Blazers can’t win anything without Lillard going full bore. The glass half full approach: if Lillard does bust out again, his supporting cast has enough of a track record to make hopes for victory credible.

尼古拉·乔基奇（Nikola Jokic）

如果利拉德（Lillard）的排行榜是波特兰（Portland）的噩梦，乔基奇（Jokic）将使他们躲在毯子下面。丹佛的中心已经是bona fide星星。在本赛季对阵开拓者队的比赛中，他看上去像是MVP。这个数字讲述了这个故事：他得分25.7分（比赛季的平均水平为5.6），而赛场的投篮命中率为62％，弧线命中率为38.5％。他有能力将波特兰的防守者拉到外面，在里面得分，抓住进攻篮板，哦...他平均每场比赛有8次助攻。

While solving the Thunder, Portland helpedKanter派遣翅膀打扰史蒂文·亚当斯（Steven Adams）来捍卫中间。亚当斯（Adams）不是外部威胁，也不是传球手乔基奇（Jokic）附近的任何地方。如果波特兰再次采用该策略，他们将不得不迅速旋转，以应对Jokic的一角钱吸引能力。直接阻止他只是故事的一半。下一个在他之后触摸球的家伙使掘金变致命。

开拓者队可能会安定下来，以使乔基奇在里面保持身体，同时让其他防守者在家中夺走他的助攻车道。那将使乔基奇首先成为一名得分手，希望尽可能多地成为外围。如果他得分30，但他的助攻和进攻篮板是有限的，而且掘金不会从该领域射出令人讨厌的百分比，波特兰的球队进攻可能会超过他们。如果Jokic在常规赛中的比赛和他的表现和他的表现一样，并且仍然是射击，得分，反弹和传球的威胁，开拓者队将很难赢得本系列赛。

Watch for the Nuggets to pull Portland into all kinds of screens and motion while defending Jokic. The Thunder were nearly criminally negligent in not doing so. Denver won’t make that mistake.

Jamal Murray

While Denver’s center excelled against Portland, their point guard did not.Jamal Murray与他的赛季平均水平相比，对开拓者的得分略有上升，但他的效率下降了。他从球场上投篮低于40％。他的三分命中率从可接受的36.7％到赢得30.8％的人。在犯规线上的成功是他最强烈的建议。在本赛季系列赛中，他的罚球尝试翻了一番。

掘金可能对默里和利拉德之间的战斗也有同样的感觉Kanter和Jokic。默里不必与利拉德（Lillard）匹配，也不需要提高效率。如果他可以在25岁以下的利拉德（Lillard）保持25岁以下的同时制造19分，那么丹佛（Denver）就可以从比赛中获得所需的东西。

加里·哈里斯（Gary Harris）

加里·哈里斯（Gary Harris）’ shot attempts and scoring efficiency have gone way down this year. He’s looked good against the Blazers mostly because he’s had more opportunities to score.

Harris’ already-low three-point percentage dropped even further against Portland, but like backcourt mate Murray, he got to the foul line more often. None of Harris’ individual numbers will scare the Blazers, but his aggregate production was enough to blunt the edge of Portland’s supposed backcourt advantage.

Even if he’s not priority one, the Blazers can’t sleep on Harris. He scored 20+ points twice in Denver’s first-round series against theSan Antonio Spurs, averaging 60% shooting for those two games. He averaged 46.2% from the arc in the first round too, far higher than his season average or his 29.4% rate against the Blazers this year.

保罗·米尔萨普（Paul Millsap）

保罗-米尔萨普是丹佛的第三四个顶级腐烂ation players to prosper against Portland this season. When facing the Blazers, Millsap topped 19 points on 63% shooting, with a shocking 60% three-point clip from the arc.

波特兰将很难守卫一名星级前场球员，更不用说两个了。米尔萨普（Millsap）在季后赛中可能不会重演三分球命中率，但是如果乔基奇（Jokic）将波特兰中心从车道上拉出来，那么从大前锋的进攻篮板就可能会成为波特兰一侧的巨大荆棘。Millsap不会成为最佳选择，但是如果其他掘金将开拓者放下，Millsap仍然能够击败它们。

Summary

掘金现在Jokic就是一切。如果the Blazers can solve that problem while keeping other players covered—allowing Jokic to prosper without getting crushed—they have a chance. If Jokic proves an unstoppable force (which he pretty much has so far) and the Blazers have to dedicate extra defenders to the job, his passing becomes a major weapon, as does the collective prowess of his teammates. At that point the Blazers have to watch out for everyone: Murray, Harris, and马利克·比斯利（Malik Beasley）在外面拍摄或切割，Millsap或Mason Plumleeon the glass.

It feels like the Blazers are going to hang on and give themselves an honest chance to win each game or they’re going to get dominated. If Denver’s plan works, it shouldreally工作。如果不是这样，开拓者仍然有火力将灯熄灭。丹佛必须注意波特兰的后场。开拓者必须确保一位出色的球员不会使他的队友看起来像全明星球员，从而使丹佛在此过程中的篮板上保持盖帽。

Game 1 tips at 7:30, Pacific tonight on TNT.

—Dave /@davedeckard/@blazersedge/blazersub@gmail.com