The Denver Nuggets bounced back in Game 2 on Monday night with a 128-109 statement win over the Portland Trail Blazers. But at halftime, the question was, how could the Nuggets stop Damian Lillard? He dropped 32 in the first two quarters and was showing no signs of slowing down.
Aaron Gordon had an answer. Per Dime, he told the coaches at half to let him guard the Blazers star:
Dame dropped 32 points and 8 threes on the Nuggets in the first half of Game 2.
Aaron Gordon asked to guard Lillard at halftime and the Nuggets held him to just 10 points on 2-9 shooting 💪 pic.twitter.com/s0FyvFvtqS
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) May 25, 2021
Safe to say it worked out. Dame had just 10 points in the second half, much in part to Gordon's lockdown defense. The Nuggets forward also held Lillard to just one more three-pointer after draining eight of them in the first two periods.
The plan was for Gordon to initially guard Lillard for the first couple of possessions, but after he contained him, the Nuggets coaching staff ultimately allowed their best defender to keep doing his thing.
Could this be the answer for the Nuggets? Although Facundo Campazzo is a pest defensively, he couldn't handle Dame. Same with Austin Rivers. It's a mismatch with Aaron Gordon, but he clearly showed the ability to keep him quiet offensively.
Obviously, Portland's defense was atrocious on Monday, which allowed the Nuggets to thrive. Nikola Jokic collected 38 points, while Michael Porter Jr had 18.
However, in order to win this series, shutting down Damian Lillard will be key. Denver may have just found his kryptonite.
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