PORTLAND, Oregon – — Reggie Jackson scored 23 points, Aaron Gordon had 22 points and 12 rebounds and the Denver Nuggets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 114-111 on Saturday night.
The Nuggets won without their star duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray on a night where the Blazers became the second team to start five rookies since NBA scoring began tracking starters in the 1971 season -72.
The defending champions have won eight of their last nine games and are 14-2 since the All-Star Break.
“Anytime you can win a game without Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, especially on the road, you’ll always accept it,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I’m proud of our group for fighting. You have to give them credit, they came out of halftime in great shape and had us on our heels.
“We didn’t play any defense in the (third) quarter, but down the stretch we made enough plays to get the win.”
Rookie Duop Reath led the Trail Blazers with 24 points. Scoot Henderson, the third overall pick in last year’s draft, finished with 22 points and six assists as the Blazers lost their sixth straight game.
Denver’s largest lead was 15.
“When we called timeout, our team leaders were taking over to make sure we were locked in,” Jackson said of Denver’s determination in the second half. “We just wanted to make stops, stop offensive rebounds and just make sure we had good shots.”
After Porter gave the Nuggets a 109-98 lead with 2:04 left, Portland made its final run starting with a 3-pointer from Reath. The Blazers forced a turnover and cut the lead to 109-105 on a Toumani Camara layup with 50.5 seconds left.
A Jackson layup pushed the Nuggets ahead 111-105. Henderson responded with a layup to make it 111-107 with 27 seconds remaining.
Henderson’s layup with 10 seconds remaining made the score 112-109 after Jackson split two free throws. After Gordon split two foul shots of his own, Henderson made another layup to make it 113-111.
Portland fouled Jackson with 1.9 seconds left and he again made one of two at the line, but Kris Murray’s full-court heave to tie the game missed.
After going 0 of 11 in the first half, Portland made six 3-pointers in the third quarter to get back into it.
“I think some of the ones we took down in the first half weren’t the ones we wanted,” Henderson said of Portland’s shooting. “I think in the second half we were really finding that shot, getting into the paint and then pulling away. We would get dabs of paint and then we would spray 3.”
A Dalano Banton free throw cut Denver’s lead to 85-83 heading into the final period.
YOUTH BLAZERS
Henderson started with Camara, Reath, Kris Murray and Rayan Rupert.
Saturday marked the first time a team started five rookies since the Golden State Warriors on April 26, 2012, according to the Elias Athletic Office.
Klay Thompson started this night for the Warriors alongside Charles Jenkins, Chris Wright, Jeremy Tyler and Mickell Gladness in their final game of a lockout-shortened season.
The Blazers have the second-worst record in the Western Conference. Saturday night, they were without several key players, including Simons, Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton, Shaedon Sharpe and Malcolm Brogdon.
FOLLOWING
Nuggets: Host Memphis Monday night.
Trail Blazers: At Houston Monday night.
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