The Portland Trail Blazers thrive on offense. That story won’t change when they face the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs this week. The Blazers probably won’t be able to overcome Nikola Jokic and company by shutting them down on the defensive end. Portland will want to run up the score and see what happens.
That doesn’t mean that any old shot will do for Portland, or that Denver will be powerless to stop them. Here are four areas in which the Blazers’ offense has thrived this season, and the ways in which the Nuggets might counter, or even try to match, them.