Denver Nuggets push past undermanned Portland Trail Blazers, 140-108

A depleted Portland Trail Blazers took on Denver Nuggets on Thursday night and lost as they made things easy for Nuggets without their four regular starters. Anfernee Simons also missed the match on Thursday and the Nuggets took advantage building to a 21-point lead at the start of the last quarter and in the end widened the lead with 140-108 at Ball Arena in Denver.

Dennis Smith Jr. tried to make up for the loss of Damian Lillard and Simons and went 7 of 12 from the field for 17 points with eight assists but could not take the fight to Denver who had Ben McLemore at18 points, while Jusuf Nurkic had 10 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Nikola Jokic had 20 points with eight rebounds and seven assists as Denver kept their winning streak alive at home with the 10th consecutive win.