Damian Lillard was impressed with Hassan Whiteside's defensive abilities and amazed at how his new teammate was able to check Nikola Jokic through the course of their season opener against the Denver Nuggets.
The new Portland Trail Blazers center dominated at both ends of the floor, putting up 16 points on a strong 6-of-7 shooting night, along with 19 rebounds and two blocks. More importantly, Whiteside helped force Jokic into three early fouls, which kept him off the floor for a large part of the first half, limiting his impact.
Lillard couldn't help but sing Whiteside's praises:
“I loved what he did tonight,” said Lillard, according to Sean Highkin of Bleacher Report. “I've never seen anybody guard [Jokic] by themselves that well so consistently. I told him… that's the type of impact we're going to need from him every night.”
Jokic was still a handful to defend during his 24 minutes, posting 20 points, 13 rebounds, and handing out a pair of assists in a 108-100 win for Denver. Some might argue the fouls defended Jokic better than Whiteside, who was still getting his defensive bearings against The Joker:
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1187215867882422273
Whiteside's main impact was his offensive rebounding, hauling in five for the Blazers and helping keep possessions alive for a team that shot a squalid 41.4% from the floor and only connected on 7-of-28 3-pointers in the game.
Despite the loss, the Blazers will need strong double-double nights like these from Whiteside in hopes to make their climb in the Western Conference, as teams just as tough as the deep Nuggets await.
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